Prompt Cast
The Switch from Left to Right: Sweden's H-Day
TLDR In 1967, Sweden made the monumental decision to switch from driving on the left side of the road to the right side, despite a previous referendum where the majority voted against it. The Swedish government successfully executed this switch in less than 24 hours, changing 360,000 street signs and minimizing fatalities and car wrecks.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Dagen H, or "Our Day" in Swedish, refers to a significant event in Sweden called hugertrafik kom lagningen, which is discussed in this podcast episode.
02:06
On September 3rd, 1967, Sweden switched from driving on the left side of the road to the right side, which required a large infrastructure project and a public information campaign.
04:12
On H-Day, every municipality in Sweden had to deal with their own issues in order to switch from driving on the left side of the road to the right side, which required changing street signs, bus stops, traffic lights, bicycle lanes, one-way streets, and even the doors on buses.
06:20
The Swedish government decided to switch from driving on the left side of the road to the right side, despite a previous referendum where 83% of voters said no, in order to align with the rest of Europe and potentially reduce traffic accidents and fatalities.
08:05
The Swedish government successfully changed 360,000 street signs in less than 24 hours in order to switch from driving on the left side of the road to the right side.
10:01
The Swedish government successfully changed 360,000 street signs in one night, with minimal fatalities and car wrecks, at a cost of 628 million Kroner.
12:19
Sweden implemented a program called Vision Zero in 1997 to reduce traffic fatalities, and by 2016, the number of traffic fatalities was down to 270.
Categories:
Society & Culture
