Dagen H (H-day), today usually called “Högertrafikomläggningen” (lit. ’the right-hand traffic reorganisation’), was on 3 September 1967, the day in which Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. The “H” stands for “Högertrafik”, the Swedish word for right-hand traffic. It was by far the largest logistical event in Sweden’s history.
Dagen H (H day) was the day, 3 September 1967, in which traffic in Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right
Since the advent of the automobile though September 2, 1967, Swedish motorists had been driving on the left. Carriage traffic in the 18th and 19th centuries flowed down the left side of Sweden’s narrow roads, and the tradition continued with cars even though most automobiles in the country were left-hand drive. Drivers sat all the way on the other side of the road from oncoming traffic, and authorities feared this contributed to accidents (especially head-on collisions). Sweden’s neighboring countries all had right-side traffic patterns, and border crossings played out like a game of chicken in ultra-slow-mo.
No wonder, the Swedish protested when a suggestion was put forward in the early 1950s. When a referendum was held in 1955, 83 percent of voters voted against the idea. Despite this, the government pushed forward for the change to put Sweden on the same path as the rest of its European neighbors. After the change, chaos unfolded across the country as millions of motorists, who had been driving on the “wrong” side of the road all their lives. Daily commutes became profoundly unfamiliar. The hardest part was unlearning many of the things they had committed to muscle memory, which constitutes much of driving itself.
On the day of the change, only 157 minor accidents were reported
The relatively smooth changeover saw a temporary reduction in the number of accidents. On the day of the change, only 157 minor accidents were reported. Traffic accidents over the next few months went down. By 1969, however, accidents were back to the levels seen before the change. The debate over the sageness of the decision was revived.
The swapped direction of the blue arrow road sign became an iconic symbol for the Dagen H project
