Dagen H

I was first told the story of Dagen H on a business trip to Sweden, on a drive to Oslo. 

45 years ago today at 4:55 AM, all motorized traffic in Sweden came to a halt.  Traffic in Sweden drove on the left-hand side of the road (like in the UK), unlike most other European countries.  At 5:00 AM, all traffic crossed from the left hand lane to the right hand lane.

Surprisingly, accidents were down that day and it doesn't seem that anyone died because of the switch.  Since everyone had left-hand drive automobiles, it seems that driver's visibility improved when overtaking. 

But it was a huge logistical effort, that took years of planning.  All road signs had to be duplicated, on the opposite side of the road.  Bus and Tram stops had to be built on the opposite side of the road.  8,000 buses had to have doors fitted on the opposite side.  And the government had to have a multi-year education campaign so that everyone in Sweden knew that the change was coming.  They even commissioned pop music songs like that family favorite, Håll dig till höger, Svensson:



I can only imagine what JayG's Road Range post for a day like that would be.