Samoan Lane Switch Causes Car Rental Chaos
Posted on February 14, 2008 by Fiona Hilliard
Drivers on the Polynesian island of Samoa are switching lanes from left to right and it’s leaving car rental companies in a jam as to what to do with their stock of left-hand car rental vehicles.It’s not just rental companies that need to worry about the change over. Locals accustomed to left-hand drives also face a serious challenge in terms of getting used to the new driving system.
Commenting on the car hire quandary, President of Samoa’s Car Rental Association, Roy Lee said: “Businesses must first get rid of left-hand drive vehicles, then buy a whole new fleet of right-hand drive cars. They can’t send the cars to neighbouring islands because the cars don’t comply with corresponding safety standards.”
Discussion: 2 Comments
2 Responses to “Samoan Lane Switch Causes Car Rental Chaos”
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Brad
- 9th Sep, 09 03:09pm
Hi Fiona,
Samoa in fact is Polynesian.
Im going back there(lived there for 15 years) in November so it should be exciting to see.
Rgds,
Brad
Fiona
- 9th Sep, 09 03:09pm
Hi Brad
Thanks for your comment. Right you are! It is Polynesian… I’ll correct that immediately.
That will indeed be interesting to see. We’d love to hear how it’s going, why not drop us a line (or a photo) when you get there and let us know what it’s like!