Left is Right

Campus moves to institute left-side driving

By Maxine Murray

The Safety Committee and Risk Assessment Council have been in talks since the inauguration of Andrews University’s sixth president, Andrea Luxton, about introducing left-sided driving to campus.

“Seeing as our remarkable leader hails from across the pond we thought it’d be a great time to consider driving on the left side like the British do,” stated Ben Panigot, director of Campus, while finishing his lunch of fish and chips. The Committee for Left-Sided Driving have met with little resistance; in fact, the Keep Calm and Carry On Club has started training any interested parties in their driving simulation. Once the left-sided driving is approved and official, all students, staff and faculty will be expected to complete the simulation program.

Currently the campus’ main entrance features a roundabout and driving on the left seems not to be too far behind. Though it took a bit of time for drivers to adapt to the installation of the roundabout, committee members feel that driving on the left should help make roundabouts feel even more natural.

“We have few concerns about our campus community’s ability to drive on the proper side of the road,” says Panigot. “Countries that have instituted a left-side driving model have decreased rates of accidents. When we heard the statistics, we were convinced that this could be a feasible shift in the transportation model on campus.”

Countries that drive on the left-hand side of the road include the U.K., Australia, the Caribbean, Japan, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Malta, Thailand, and others.

“The numbers do not lie,” says Shandelle Henson, professor of mathematics. “They only support this brilliant idea.”

Andrews University encourages it students and employees to fulfill the motto: Seek Knowledge. Affirm Faith. Change the World. With the eager embrace of global engagement regularly seen on campus, administrators felt that permitting campus drivers to drive on the left side of the road fell in line with the overarching goals of the University.

“With 34 percent of the world driving on the left, we knew that it aligned with the needs of our world-changing students,” says Christon Arthur, provost.  

The Committee for Left-Sided Driving has requested that the transition occur this summer, so that statistics can be generated on the true benefits of left-sided driving while the number of drivers on campus is lower.

The University is excited to be on precipice of introducing the campus to this driving model, and, as the flagship institution, expects to be the first of many campuses in the country to make this change.