WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Dagen H

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<v Speaker 1>And I got a de vita everybody, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the short Stuff. It's Josh and Chuck and there's Jerry

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<v Speaker 1>over there, uh somewhere out there in the ether, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I hope so, and this is this is stuff you

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<v Speaker 1>should know, short stuff. We should probably stop horsing around. Yeah. So,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know why you said in a gotta DaVita.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm assume is that. No, I think it's a pig

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<v Speaker 1>Latin or gibberish. Oh really, yeah, it's in the garden

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<v Speaker 1>of Eden. But for some reason he said in a

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<v Speaker 1>gota devita? Why did you say it for this show?

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<v Speaker 1>It's just fun. It's a pleasant thing to hear. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>you think I thought it was an Easter egg? No? No,

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<v Speaker 1>and now it's just totally ruined. Well, we are talking

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<v Speaker 1>about a pretty interesting thing that you uh teased out

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<v Speaker 1>on an episode we did recently, and one that is

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<v Speaker 1>from an episode. Well it's not from an episode, but

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<v Speaker 1>there's all so visible episode about this there is if

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<v Speaker 1>you want to hear a better version in that way, right, Roman,

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<v Speaker 1>Roman has this beaten just about every way, but we'll

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<v Speaker 1>try our best. Right, So, what we're talking about today

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<v Speaker 1>is called dogging h and dogging h um is Swedish

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<v Speaker 1>for our day or right day h. The H stands

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<v Speaker 1>for hougar, which is um, the Swedish word for right.

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<v Speaker 1>And what the whole thing was really talking about was

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<v Speaker 1>something called man huger traffic calm log ningjin. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know if nice is the right word, but sure, thank you,

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<v Speaker 1>And what that means is the right hand traffic diversion.

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<v Speaker 1>And ultimately, what all of this, all these words and

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<v Speaker 1>oom lots all piled together mean is that this is

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<v Speaker 1>the day dogging h September three, ninety seven when Sweden

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<v Speaker 1>said we're no longer driving on the left hand of

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<v Speaker 1>the road like we have been since seventeen thirty four,

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<v Speaker 1>where all of a sudden, on one day going to

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<v Speaker 1>switch over to the right hand side. That's right, And uh,

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<v Speaker 1>I think did you mention when they how long they

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<v Speaker 1>had been driving on the other side. Yes, it's seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>thirty four. It's a long time. So what you're having

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<v Speaker 1>to do is there's a couple of factors here. You've

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<v Speaker 1>got to teach people how to do this literally, so

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<v Speaker 1>they put together a pamphlet that literally told you how

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<v Speaker 1>to do it, and then you gotta it's an infrastructure

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<v Speaker 1>project supposedly the largest driving related infrastructure project ever undertaken

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<v Speaker 1>by any country. Oh really, I know. It's definitely Sweden's

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<v Speaker 1>largest infrastructure project to that day. It was the largest

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<v Speaker 1>for for any country as far as traffics are related,

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<v Speaker 1>largest traffic related infrastructure. Yes, what I just said protect Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I just couldn't believe my ears chuck, but um, yeah, yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, there's an infrastructure section of it, and then

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<v Speaker 1>there's the public information camp paint and it was a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more than just like a pamphlet. Pamphlets were stepped

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<v Speaker 1>like one dot you know, oh, we'll go with indicating

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<v Speaker 1>that there's plenty other steps. How about that? And one

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<v Speaker 1>some of the other things they did was, um, TV ads,

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<v Speaker 1>radio ads, newspaper ads. They came up with a logo

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<v Speaker 1>for dogging age that was everywhere. Um. They had a

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<v Speaker 1>a song contest to pick us a theme song for

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<v Speaker 1>dog and h and they came up with a good Boy.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure you listened to it. Yeah, it was good

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<v Speaker 1>of you. Oh yeah. Uh. It was called well the

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<v Speaker 1>American translation is keep to the Rights Vincente and it

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<v Speaker 1>was by the Telestars and it was like you said,

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<v Speaker 1>selected by a vote. It actually reached number five on

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<v Speaker 1>their their charts, whatever the Swedish charts are. Uh. And

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<v Speaker 1>there was also a weird little sly side meeting because

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<v Speaker 1>apparently keeping it to the right means to be faithful

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<v Speaker 1>to your significant other as opposed to cheating on some

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<v Speaker 1>which is going left. Oh, I hadn't heard that before. Yeah, wow, chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>that's some. That's a deep cut right there. It's fairly deep.

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<v Speaker 1>So then the name of the song in Swedish is

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<v Speaker 1>hall dig Tail Hougar Svenson. And um. I listened to

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<v Speaker 1>it enough that I could have sung it, but enough

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<v Speaker 1>time is the lap? Since I've heard it's gone? Can

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<v Speaker 1>you say it would have been great? No? Do you

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<v Speaker 1>think we've talked about it enough to play it at

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<v Speaker 1>any point? Or do we have to just tell people

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<v Speaker 1>who go look it up on YouTube? Uh? No? I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>let's could we play like a version where we won't

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<v Speaker 1>get sued? Uh? I don't know. We'll find out in

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<v Speaker 1>the getit? How about that? All right? Well, let's play

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<v Speaker 1>a little part right now here is hall dig Tail

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<v Speaker 1>Huger Svenson by the Telestars. I'm not it's just bad

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<v Speaker 1>about it. Catch is is it gets I'm surprised it

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<v Speaker 1>only rose to number five on the Huge Parade. Yeah. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>here's the thing with h Day though, Um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>every municipality had to deal with their own issues. They

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<v Speaker 1>had to change. I mean, when you think about it,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not just about educating the public. That pamphlet. That

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<v Speaker 1>pamphlet I mentioned. Uh, I want to make it clear

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<v Speaker 1>that was not just like, hey, here's what we're doing.

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<v Speaker 1>It is here is how to drive on the other

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<v Speaker 1>side of the road. And then um, you've got uh,

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<v Speaker 1>street signs, you've got bus stops, you've got traffic lights,

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<v Speaker 1>you got bicycle lanes, you got one way streets, you

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<v Speaker 1>got busses that have doors on one side of the

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<v Speaker 1>vehicle that now need doors on the other side. It

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<v Speaker 1>was huge. Yeah. What one of the other things too,

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<v Speaker 1>was the Swedes didn't even want to do this. There

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<v Speaker 1>was a there was a referendum that had been held

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<v Speaker 1>ten years before when they started thinking about doing this,

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<v Speaker 1>and like of Swedish voters said no, Yeah, they did

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<v Speaker 1>want to start driving on the right hand side of

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<v Speaker 1>the road, and the government said, well, we're doing it anyway.

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<v Speaker 1>And the reason why they wanted to do this in

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<v Speaker 1>the first place was because Sweden was um kind of

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<v Speaker 1>lagging behind the rest of Europe, which had started to

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<v Speaker 1>increasingly or the rest of the world, I should say,

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<v Speaker 1>which has started to increasingly drive on the right hand

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<v Speaker 1>side of the road, and so that was one thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Sweden didn't want to look backwards or anything like that.

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<v Speaker 1>But then the other thing is that they the government

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<v Speaker 1>was like, this may cause fewer fatalities because while we

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<v Speaker 1>drive on the left side of the road, we're buying cars,

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<v Speaker 1>including Volvos, that are designed to be driven on the

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<v Speaker 1>right hand side of the road. So you're driving on

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<v Speaker 1>the left hand side of the road on the left

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<v Speaker 1>side of your car, which means you were just kind

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<v Speaker 1>of looking down into this little ditch next to you

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<v Speaker 1>with oncoming traffic, which seems it seems reasonable that they

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<v Speaker 1>thought this was a dangerous situation. Yeah, you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>never really considered that because I didn't wonder what the

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<v Speaker 1>big deal was. My only experience, I think I've said

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<v Speaker 1>before was when we were on the Australian Tour, I

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<v Speaker 1>drove opposite side and right hand side, steering wheel wise.

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<v Speaker 1>But now that I think about it, I guess it

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<v Speaker 1>would be a little weird to be opposite side with

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<v Speaker 1>the regular setup, right, Yeah, it would be a little weird,

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<v Speaker 1>like you'd be really far removed from kind of where

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<v Speaker 1>you need to be paying the most attention, I think

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<v Speaker 1>is the thing. And and and they ultimately did show

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<v Speaker 1>a decline in traffic accidents and fatalities because of DOGG

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<v Speaker 1>and H, but they think it was because people were

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<v Speaker 1>just paying more attention getting used to driving on the

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<v Speaker 1>right hand side, because within two years it went back

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<v Speaker 1>up to about normal. Yeah. I think people are a

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<v Speaker 1>little extra cautious, which is great. Um, here's the thing, though,

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<v Speaker 1>when you do something like this, it's not like little

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<v Speaker 1>by little over the course of a month you can

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<v Speaker 1>start changing street signs, because that would be chaos. So

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<v Speaker 1>the night before and the day before they had to

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<v Speaker 1>shut down basically almost all traffic. You had to have

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<v Speaker 1>special permissions to have a car on the road at all.

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<v Speaker 1>And they had to change three hundred and sixty thousand

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<v Speaker 1>street signs in less than twenty four hours. Were they successful.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll let you know right after this message breaks. Okay, Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't stand the tension any longer. Were they successful

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<v Speaker 1>in changing three hundred and sixty thousand street signs all

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<v Speaker 1>across Sweden in one single night. Well, I want to

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<v Speaker 1>say for sure, my gut says they may have missed

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<v Speaker 1>one or two, okay, but over over, overall they were

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<v Speaker 1>very successful. At four fifty in the a m on September,

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<v Speaker 1>bunch bunch of people came out to watch. There were

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<v Speaker 1>cars on the road and they said stop, go to

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<v Speaker 1>the other side, and directed people the other side and

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<v Speaker 1>said all right, have have a blast everybody. Yeah. There

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<v Speaker 1>was like a countdown on the radio, and then there

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<v Speaker 1>was the announcement after after they reached one that Sweden

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<v Speaker 1>now drives on the right hand side of the road

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<v Speaker 1>and everybody could start driving. And I'm sure they were

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<v Speaker 1>like wobbling and weaving and kind of like little kids

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<v Speaker 1>on a bike with training wheels or after having the

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<v Speaker 1>training was taken off. I should say, I'll bet it

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<v Speaker 1>was adorable to see. But um there were the next

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<v Speaker 1>day that was a Sunday at like five am when

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<v Speaker 1>they started, and the next the next business day, Monday.

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<v Speaker 1>There were no fatalities. Nobody died and they were like

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and fifty seven car wrex, which is slightly

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<v Speaker 1>lower than a normal Monday in Sweden. Yeah, and it

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<v Speaker 1>was not cheap either. Obviously it's gonna cost a ton

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<v Speaker 1>of money. At the time it costs six million kroner,

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<v Speaker 1>which was astronaut Yeah, it's about three and sixteen million

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<v Speaker 1>American dollars today, but about five more than the government's

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<v Speaker 1>estimated budget, which is not a bad overrun, No, not

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<v Speaker 1>at all. And um, if you read some of the

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<v Speaker 1>articles on it we we used, in addition to a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of others, this one BBC article about it that

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<v Speaker 1>was super interesting. They pointed out some of the people

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<v Speaker 1>who were there and took part in this point out like, dude,

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<v Speaker 1>you that was ridiculously cheap, even for the time, for this,

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<v Speaker 1>the massive scale of this, not just the infrastructure again

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<v Speaker 1>but also the all of the public information campaign too.

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<v Speaker 1>They they did it for cheap, and they did it

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<v Speaker 1>really quickly. Yeah, it's it was quite a project. My

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<v Speaker 1>hat is off to them for doing it by all accounts,

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<v Speaker 1>like pretty successfully. Yeah, they did it, and they said

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<v Speaker 1>that's great. But then, like I said, traffic fatalities went

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<v Speaker 1>back up, um after a couple of years when people

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<v Speaker 1>got used to it, and so UM Sweden undertook a

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<v Speaker 1>projects starting in that UM that said, we're we we

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<v Speaker 1>don't want any traffic fatalities no matter what side of

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<v Speaker 1>the road we drive on, um, in our country. So

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<v Speaker 1>they came up with a program called Vision Zero, and um,

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<v Speaker 1>they've just been slowly but surely trying to whittle down

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<v Speaker 1>the number of traffic fatalities and in two thousand and

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen it was down to two hundred and seventy. That's

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<v Speaker 1>a minuscule amount for a country the size of Sweden

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<v Speaker 1>for an entire year. So who knows if they'll ever

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<v Speaker 1>get to zero, but hats off to them for also

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<v Speaker 1>for for trying to do that. Yeah, and for digging

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<v Speaker 1>up Telestar to cut the hit song Vision zero, right,

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<v Speaker 1>they literally had to dig one of the members up.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh man, Yeah, I got nothing else except to recommend

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<v Speaker 1>the Invisible episode because they do their show a little differently,

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<v Speaker 1>so they got some cool interviews with people that were

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<v Speaker 1>there at the time, and um, it's always you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a little more dressed up than our show, and by

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<v Speaker 1>that I mean way more dressed up. Agreed, they do

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<v Speaker 1>it very well over there. So uh, that's it for

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<v Speaker 1>short stuff. Go ahead on over to nine Invisible and

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<v Speaker 1>we will see you next time. How ddios Stuff you

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<v Speaker 1>Should Know is a production of I Heart Radios how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit

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