Could the UK drive on the right?
*Personally think this would be a nightmare scenario in the UK, to switch the side of the road we drive on, when I read this proposal, first thing that jumped into my head was "round-a-bouts" and that many countries dont know what these are but in the UK we have overkill of them, just think of someone forgetting what way they should drive around it, is it left or right.... oppps BUMP!*
Anyhow the article..............
Motorists in Samoa have switched the side of the road they drive on, overnight. It's a move that Britain has considered - but how would it work?
It's the kind of interview question that has reduced confident job seekers to quivering wrecks.
Imagine you are the minister in charge of the UK's roads and you have to switch the country to driving on the right-hand side. How would you do it?
A study of Samoa, in the South Pacific, this week might offer some clues. The country is experiencing its first day of driving on the left on Monday, the start of a special two-day bank holiday to ease Samoans into the new regime.
What if the UK were to follow? Driving on the right would make trips to the European mainland easier, when taking or hiring a car. And cars with steering wheels on the left could be cheaper.
The idea is not as fanciful as it sounds. Although the Department for Transport says it has no plans to change, it did examine such a plan in the late 1960s, two years after Sweden successfully switched to driving on the right.
Its report rejected the idea on grounds of safety and costs. But that was before Britain's entry into the European Union and the opening of the Channel Tunnel, which for the first time established a land link between Britain and the Continent. So, if the UK was to think again about a switch, what would be the key issues?
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Could the UK drive on the right?
Anyhow the article..............
Motorists in Samoa have switched the side of the road they drive on, overnight. It's a move that Britain has considered - but how would it work?
It's the kind of interview question that has reduced confident job seekers to quivering wrecks.
Imagine you are the minister in charge of the UK's roads and you have to switch the country to driving on the right-hand side. How would you do it?
A study of Samoa, in the South Pacific, this week might offer some clues. The country is experiencing its first day of driving on the left on Monday, the start of a special two-day bank holiday to ease Samoans into the new regime.
What if the UK were to follow? Driving on the right would make trips to the European mainland easier, when taking or hiring a car. And cars with steering wheels on the left could be cheaper.
The idea is not as fanciful as it sounds. Although the Department for Transport says it has no plans to change, it did examine such a plan in the late 1960s, two years after Sweden successfully switched to driving on the right.
Its report rejected the idea on grounds of safety and costs. But that was before Britain's entry into the European Union and the opening of the Channel Tunnel, which for the first time established a land link between Britain and the Continent. So, if the UK was to think again about a switch, what would be the key issues?
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Could the UK drive on the right?
