September 3rd is a special date in Swedish automotive history. On this day in 1967, a piece of major traffic legislation came into effect – known as “Dagen H” – or “H Day.”
What Was “H-Day?”
- Non-essential traffic was banned between 01:00-06:00 AM
- White lines had to be pained to replace the old yellow ones
- No less than 350,000 road signs were removed or replaced
After all, we only talk about two-wheelers (and the occasional three-wheeler) on this blog.
So what do they have to do with H Day?
Because this legislation didn’t just affect cars. Two-wheelers like mopeds also had to abide by it
And part of that involves informing people about how to ride on the right side of the road.
Enter this moped information pamphlet, titled “På moped i högertrafik” (roughly “Riding a Moped on the Right Side of the Road”).
Riding a Moped on the Right Side of the Road Pamphlet
While there’s no actual publishing date on it, it’s most likely some time around 1966- 1967 – evidenced by the presence of the H logo from the campaign (displayed to your right) in the upper right corner.
- Don’t overtake near a zebra crossing or any other type of crosswalk
- Park your moped at a bicycle stand (remember, this was decades before the so-called “EU-moped” arrived on the scene)
- Keeping a good following distance to the vehicle in front
Sure – the information is valuable, but it’s incredible how little they follow the “riding a moped on the right side off the road” angle.
Strange, especially since it’s literally in the title.
I just find it strange that moped riders didn’t get more information about how such a monumental decision (one that required changing or replacing 350,000 road signs all over Sweden) would affect them.
