The government of Samoa – a small nation in the South Pacific – declared a 2-day national holiday last week for its 180,000 citizens; the reason was somewhat unusual.  Essentially, the governing authorities wanted – no, needed – fewer vehicles on the road, while everybody re-learned to drive.

Why would drivers, some of whom had been legally licensed for decades need to re-learn their driving skills??  Because after driving in the right lane since the arrival of automobiles on the island state, as of September 7^th drivers will now switch to the left.

But observers are warning, that the move intended to align Samoan driving with that of neighbouring nations will result in more vehicle accidents, with accompanying injuries and fatalities.

How much confidence would you have driving in that environment – confidence in your own control of your vehicle, or more to the point, that of the others sharing the road with you – when drivers who have competently driven for years, are now asked to make this fundamental, anti-intuitive change??  In reality, driving has become for most of us a rather habitual task.

Reading of this change on the other side of the world, reminds me:

• how much confidence we naturally place in those with whom we share the road.  We know nothing of other drivers – how much experience they have, medical condition, what their vehicle maintenance strategy is (or isn’t!), whether they are even legally licensed or insured – and yet we expect every other driver to be in control of their vehicle and responsibly observe the rules of the road, from changing lanes on the 401 to navigating intersections in our home town.
• that we need to all drive with more intentionality and focus, and less in “mental auto-pilot” mode because of the potential for damage or serious injury, particularly to those who as passengers in our vehicles are relying on us to be conscientious drivers.

Maybe being forced to drive on the other side of the road would make us all more careful, attentive and deliberate drivers.  Maybe the pessimistic Samoan observers will be proved wrong.  Maybe radical change to habitual tasks –even driving on the “wrong” side of the road – brings more care and focus.  But as an insurance broker regularly reviewing vehicle accident files, I’d desperately not want to see it in Ontario!

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Automobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.