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Eye-catching black and whites


forddeliveryboy

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8 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

I was in Bergen in 2019. I have never seen as many Teslas on the road. Also passed the back of the Tesla dealer on the tram from the airport, and there were 100s in their yard.

Lots of Nissan Leafs ( Leaves?) too, between them seem to make up at least 50% of cars. Most of the rest hybrids. No one has a beat up Fiesta or Astra.

One of the biggest oil cities in the world , buying EVs on the back of exporting oil to the rest of the world. 

Most people are too posh here now and can not drive older or cheap cars. As a good example, Dacia only takes Duster for sale in Norway as they know that they will not be able to sell anything here.

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20 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

Wasn't it the case that in Sweden, when they drove on the left, they had the steering wheel on the left too?  Hence switching to driving on the right was relatively easy. 

I think it may be true, Quickly looked at some cars from the 50's for sale in Sweden and all have left-hand drive.

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5 hours ago, lisbon_road said:

Wasn't it the case that in Sweden, when they drove on the left, they had the steering wheel on the left too?  Hence switching to driving on the right was relatively easy. 

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/history/driving_on_right.shtml

Yes and no.

Quote from the above link.

Quote

Be that how it may. The logical thing at the time would still have been to have right-hand drive cars in left-hand traffic but very few cars, most of them British, were right-hand drive in Sweden at the time. The American influence was so strong that Swedes merely accepted the facts as they were. One must remember that American cars topped the Swedish registration statistics until 1948 when Volvo took over the top position (from Chevrolet).

https://drivemag.com/news/dagen-h-the-day-sweden-switched-from-driving-on-the-left-to-the-right

and from the above link.

Quote

However, around 90 percent of all vehicles registered were left-hand drive, so this further spurred the need for a change

 

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Thanks Remspoor.  Fascinating.

Key point here: the cars had the steering on the left primarily due to the American sales people selling their cars.  American sales people are special; I vaguely remember reading how they have killed off steam locomotives around the world due to the tenacity of the American sales people for diesels. 

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Sweden must be the only 1st world nation to change sides of the road since the 1930s.

While under American administration Okinawa had switched sides, but after being handed back to Japan switched back after a few years.

Austria had an odd mixed system until the Anschluss, where the provinces bordering Germany drove on the right, but other areas used the left.

They were gradually switching a province at a time before the political union make everywhere drive on the right.

The other places in the Austro-Hungarian empire had mostly driven on the left, but by the 1940s had all switched to the right.

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In 2009 Myanmar changed from left to right driving, because driving on the left was too 'colonial'. Over 90% of the cars then, and now, are right hand drive. Accident rates multiplied from atrocious to really quite bad.

Attempts are being made to ban right hand drive cars but as this would mean the vast majority of cars would become illegal overnight there is some opposition. The obvious thing to do is go back to driving on the correct side... It's not as if they have anything else to worry about.

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27 minutes ago, martc said:

In 2009 Myanmar changed from left to right driving, because driving on the left was too 'colonial'. Over 90% of the cars then, and now, are right hand drive. Accident rates multiplied from atrocious to really quite bad.

Attempts are being made to ban right hand drive cars but as this would mean the vast majority of cars would become illegal overnight there is some opposition. The obvious thing to do is go back to driving on the correct side... It's not as if they have anything else to worry about.

Way before 2009 - it was actually on the 6th of December 1970 during the era of Burma being ruled by General Ne Win. 

It’s not like the change was in any way sensible or logical (traits which the good General was not noted for), because Burma had always driven on the left and imported cars that were all RHD. Most of Burma’s neighbours drove on the left too. 

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This is one of my favorite stories. The first major car race in Norway after the war was in September 1947 and with several participants from Scandinavia and many special cars and August Haugen taxi owner from Lillehammer Norway who participated with his worn out taxi that had been driven the whole war on wood gas. He drove from home in the morning and without a single training lap on the track participated and came in 4th place first place was taken by a Bugatti. Is unfortunately bad with pictures to is just this bad one.

bb_109390.jpeg

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