I cannot imagine there being a pressing need for Australia, or New Zealand to change the side of the road on which to drive. After all neither country has a border to cross in which the driving side changes. It is much different when you are in Europe and have to change when crossing a border. There it makes sense that all countries drive on the same side of the road. There is certainly no need for Australia or New Zealand to change just because the UK does. Those stranglehold ties have long since been broken.
regards Baron Carter -----Original Message----- From: Justin JIH [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, 25 February, 2002 11:23 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:18414] Re: British road: metricating road signs & switching the side to drive >>With car ferries and, now, the Chunnel, it would seem to make good sense >>for >>road signs, vehicle instrumentation, road maps etc. in the British Isles >>to >>be harmonized with those on the continent. This would have safety and >>economic benefits. Of course, on the safety front, there is that >>[insurmountable?] issue of driving on the same side of the road. THAT is >>a >>tough one! >Sweden used to keep left on the highways. In the 1950s if my memory is >correct, the government asked the people in a referendum if they wished to >change the rule of the road. The proposition was defeated. The government >waited 10 years and then went ahead with the change without another >referendum. All road traffic was haulted on the night of December 31. All >directional signs such as in one-way streets and traffic circles were >reversed during the night. A new fleet of buses with doors on the right >side was ready to replace the old ones with doors on the left. On the >morning of January 1 traffic resumed with a speed limit of 20 km/h (I >believe). Each day the speed limit was raised by 10 km/h (I believe). The >whole operation went on without a hitch. Visit "Which side of the road do they drive on?" at http://www.travel-library.com/general/driving/drive_which_side.html and a book called The Rule of the Road: An International Guide to History and Practice by Peter Kincaid (I have bought my own copy) deals with the issue. Sweden held a referendum in 1955 but 82% opposed switching the side of the road to drive. The law to switch the side was passed on 1963-05-10. Instead of December 31, the side of the road to drive was changed at 1967-09-03T05:00 (Sunday, must be local time) and general traffic was prohibited overnight to allow a safer change while specifically authorized traffic kept left until 04:50 and stopped to move to the right side until 5:00. In the United Kingdom, metricating road signs and switching the side of the road to drive are both politically-sensitive issues. As early as in 1970s, the UK was expected to switch the road traffic, but after decades, traffic still keeps left in WOMBAT units. Japan cannot be expected to switch the side of the road to drive (left to right) in the forseeable future because switching the road traffic in Okinawa from keep right (during USA occupation) back to keep left (before 1945) at 1978-07-30T06:00 has proved that Japan has no intent to change. Japan is widely metricated, though. No one is strong enough to press Japan to switch the side of the road to drive, but as the European Union gets stronger, the UK would still feel pressure to metricate the road signs and switch the side of the road to drive. Though combining both changes at the same time should not be impossible, switching the side of the road to drive itself would be the most expensive in the world history presuming Japan never changes. As the UK resists both changes, most once-British countries keep left on the road, though most have metricated the roads. If the UK ever switches the side of the road to drive (and probably metricate the signs at the same time), I would like to visit there and many, if not all, once-British countries will probably follow, but Japan and nearby keep-left areas may remain keep left. Justin JIH Use SI but No WOMBAT! http://www.geocities.com/jusjih/measure/si-wombat.html _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
