Australians and New Zealanders will be driving on the right-hand side of the road within three years, according it to an agreement made by the Council of Ministers for Transport.
The change is to be made as part of the proposed US-Australia free trade agreement.
The council is made up of federal, state and in New Zealand Ministers for Transport. The Federal Government sought to have a public announcement delayed until after the federal election later this year. However, a copy of the agreement has been obtained by the The Canberra Times.
It is understood that US officials raised the question in talks on the free-trade agreement with the Australian officials and the Australian officials took the question on board. The US officials argued that there were questions of free trade involved.
The US position was that only if Australia and New Zealand drove on the right would there be complete freedom of trade in the automotive industry and industries associated with road construction.
It was further pointed out that the it would be greater opportunities for free trade in the movie industry if Australia drove on the right. It would mean that that movies filmed in Australia would look more realistic for American audiences. American film crews could use Australian roads, towns and cities as the backgrounds and American audiences would assume that the events were taking place in America. Under free trade arrangements it would enable American movie companies take advantage of Australia’s lower cost regime for movie making.
The ministers were presented with a detailed cost-benefit analysis. It was estimated that that the benefits to the Australian vehicle making industry only would outstrip the cost of changing over within 15 years. Benefits to the movie industry were more difficult to quantify.
Australian officials did extensive studies on the change from left to right that it was made in Scandinavia in the early the 1970s. They concluded that Scandinavia benefited in the long term. If Britain had changed at the same time, it, too, would by now be ahead in financial terms. Also, the costs of changing were now far less because road technology – line marking, traffic-light and sign placement and so on — had become far more efficient and cheaper.
Under the Ministers’ plan, right-hand drive cars would be allowed to be registered until the end of 2007, after which all cars would have to be left-hand drive. The impetus to upgrade vehicles would give a significant boost to the Australian car industry, the Ministers’ paper said.
There were further benefits for tourists who would be less susceptible to danger after coming from a right-hand driving country. Traffic figures reveal a significant number of major accidents were caused by both pedestrians and drivers thinking “”on the wrong side of the road”. Further, Australians who had been just a few weeks in a right-dive country and then returned to Australia could also suffer the same difficulty and also be at risk.
The officials thought that the system could be introduced in stages, starting in Tasmania and Western Australia which were sufficiently isolated for there are not be a difficulty at crossing points.
The ministers’ paper said that globalisation made it inevitable that local rules like driving on the left would have to be changed to fit global patterns.
Several other countries that now drive on the left are also expected to change as part of free trade agreements with other countries. The major countries that drive on the left, Japan, India, Nigeria and Indonesia are all likely to be driving on the right by April the First, 2004.