# Swedes, I have a question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919 "2010-08-29T21:33:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/21 "2010-08-31T06:54:38Z")
> [@zwede](#): > > > [@Declan](#): > > > > Yet there are several passages where Farenheit and miles are used > > As an anecdote, the term “mil” (mile), is common in Sweden but refers to a distance of 10km (6.25 US/English miles). Fahrenheits are not used at all. Thanks for the information, both yourself and the other posters that took time to bring me up to speed. I think that the book that I bought was a translated copy of Mr Larssons work. Declan ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/22 "2010-08-31T07:20:54Z")
The US converted to metric wherever feasible in 1975. [http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/laws/metric-conv.html](http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/laws/metric-conv.html) Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone. The tea baggers will lose their fluid. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/23 "2010-08-31T11:01:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Related question (and I know it’s wikipdeiable, but I’d like some Swedes to describe what it was like)… was it Sweden that switched which side of the road they drove on back in the (I think) 60s? If so, what was that like? As I understand it, the way it happened was at around 5 or 6 AM on the date the switch was supposed to occur, everyone on the road stopped, carefully scooted across the road to the opposite lane, and continued driving. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/24 "2010-08-31T11:18:33Z")
No traffic was allowed on the night of the switch except buses, taxis, fire engines and such and five to five even those stopped, waited for five minutes and then continued on the other side. IIRC this traffic ban continued the whole next day. The reason for this was that an army of workmen uncovered new signs and removed old ones. [Here’s a photo from central Stockholm taken at the switch-over](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Kungsgatan_1967.jpg). As for road markings the old ones were yellow and the new white so they co-existed for a while until the old ones wore off. ETA The ten kilometer _mil_ is also used in Norway. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/25 "2010-08-31T11:40:48Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > The US converted to metric wherever feasible in 1975. [http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/laws/metric-conv.html](http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/laws/metric-conv.html) > > Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone. The tea baggers will lose their fluid. **MODERATOR NOTE, not a warning** **Second Stone**. You’re in General Questions. Bringing in politics is out of place. Try not to do this. **samclem** Moderator, GQ ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/26 "2010-08-31T13:34:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Related question (and I know it’s wikipdeiable, but I’d like some Swedes to describe what it was like)… was it Sweden that switched which side of the road they drove on back in the (I think) 60s? If so, what was that like? No cite, but as I’ve understood it, the switch was made due to pressure from Volvo and SAAB, who were having a bother to produce different cars for the domestic and export markets. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/27 "2010-08-31T15:46:48Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > > [@John\_Mace](#): > > > > Related question (and I know it’s wikipdeiable, but I’d like some Swedes to describe what it was like)… was it Sweden that switched which side of the road they drove on back in the (I think) 60s? If so, what was that like? > > As I understand it, the way it happened was at around 5 or 6 AM on the date the switch was supposed to occur, everyone on the road stopped, carefully scooted across the road to the opposite lane, and continued driving. Those damn reasonable Scandinavians! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/28 "2010-08-31T16:01:18Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#): > > No cite, but as I’ve understood it, the switch was made due to pressure from Volvo and SAAB, who were having a bother to produce different cars for the domestic and export markets. I doubt that. They already had to make LHD cars for export, and even after the switch there remained the major RHD markets of the UK and various other countries. They still make RHD versions of their cars, in big numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/29 "2010-08-31T16:44:23Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#): > > No cite, but as I’ve understood it, the switch was made due to pressure from Volvo and SAAB, who were having a bother to produce different cars for the domestic and export markets. Do you imply that they made RHD cars for domestic use? 😕 As [**zwede**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12858579&postcount=19) has already pointed out most vehicles, the exceptions were mainly buses and post office cars, were already LHD. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/30 "2010-08-31T17:30:55Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#): > > > [@John\_Mace](#): > > > > Related question (and I know it’s wikipdeiable, but I’d like some Swedes to describe what it was like)… was it Sweden that switched which side of the road they drove on back in the (I think) 60s? If so, what was that like? > > No cite, but as I’ve understood it, the switch was made due to pressure from Volvo and SAAB, who were having a bother to produce different cars for the domestic and export markets. According to this page (in Swedish), supposedly a transcription from a 1967 publication, the main reason was increased cross border traffic with all right side drive neighbours in a right side drive Western Europe. It was first suggested by comity in 1927, then in 1934, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1945 and 1953. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/31 "2010-08-31T17:37:34Z")
> [@zwede](#): > > > [@Declan](#): > > > > Yet there are several passages where Farenheit and miles are used > > As an anecdote, the term “mil” (mile), is common in Sweden but refers to a distance of 10km (6.25 US/English miles). Fahrenheits are not used at all. And as the prevalence of that term is due to the [old Norwegian and Swedish “mile”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian/Swedish_mil) being around that length (11 295 meters and 10 688 meters respectively), even if we hadn’t been metric, they’d have to convert our miles when translating to English. But of course, if one is being contrafactual one might as well suppose a standardisation on the Imperial measurements outside of the English speaking world, as assume everyone would just stick to every one of their totally incompatible units. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/32 "2010-09-01T09:33:26Z")
I have leafed through a 17th century (English?) encyclopedia that gave all distances in whatever mile was used in the country being described; French miles for France, German miles for Germany, Irish miles for Ireland, English miles for England etc. Sweden was IIRC 3 to 4 days’ horse riding broad. ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919/33 "2010-09-01T09:50:55Z")
> [@naita](#): > > > [@kombatminipig](#): > > > > No cite, but as I’ve understood it, the switch was made due to pressure from Volvo and SAAB, who were having a bother to produce different cars for the domestic and export markets. > > According to this page (in Swedish), supposedly a transcription from a 1967 publication, the main reason was increased cross border traffic with all right side drive neighbours in a right side drive Western Europe. It was first suggested by comity in 1927, then in 1934, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1945 and 1953. Consider my ignorance fought =) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedes-i-have-a-question/551919.md?page=1)