H-dagurinn
Encyclopedia
H-dagurinn on May 26, 1968 is the day that Iceland
changed from left hand traffic to right hand traffic. The change itself occurred formally at 6:00 AM.
The country's parliament
made the following demand of the government on May 13, 1964:
"Alþingi urges the government to initiate as soon as possible research into how best to move the traffic to the right hand side of the road."
The Traffic Commission (Umferðarnefnd) was assigned to handle the task. Cost due to the change amounted to over 33 million kronur
due to modification to bus
es and 12 million kronur due to changes to infrastructure. During the night before the change 1662 signs all over the country were changed, making the total of signs changed 5727.
The only injury from the changeover was a boy on a bicycle who broke his leg.
In accordance with risk homeostasis
theory, traffic accident rates briefly dropped as drivers overcompensated for the increased risk from driving on the unfamiliar side of the road, before returning to the level predicted by the trend prior to the changeover.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
changed from left hand traffic to right hand traffic. The change itself occurred formally at 6:00 AM.
The country's parliament
Althing
The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...
made the following demand of the government on May 13, 1964:
"Alþingi urges the government to initiate as soon as possible research into how best to move the traffic to the right hand side of the road."
The Traffic Commission (Umferðarnefnd) was assigned to handle the task. Cost due to the change amounted to over 33 million kronur
Icelandic króna
The króna is the currency of Iceland. The króna is technically subdivided into 100 aurar , but in practice this subdivision is no longer used....
due to modification to bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es and 12 million kronur due to changes to infrastructure. During the night before the change 1662 signs all over the country were changed, making the total of signs changed 5727.
The only injury from the changeover was a boy on a bicycle who broke his leg.
In accordance with risk homeostasis
Risk homeostasis
Risk homeostasis is a hypothesis about risk, developed by Gerald J.S. Wilde, a professor emeritus of psychology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. This hypothesis is elucidated in Wilde's book. The idea of risk homeostasis has garnered criticism. The hypothesis of risk homeostasis...
theory, traffic accident rates briefly dropped as drivers overcompensated for the increased risk from driving on the unfamiliar side of the road, before returning to the level predicted by the trend prior to the changeover.