Wellington  - Motorists in the Pacific island state of Western Samoa will switch from driving on the right side of the road to the left next year after Parliament passed a controversial law, Radio New Zealand International reported Monday from the capital Apia.

The change was widely opposed by thousands of citizens who said it would create chaos for drivers of the 18,000 cars on the roads and staged the state's biggest-ever protest marches to try to force a backdown. Two legislators of the ruling party resigned to become independents in Parliament over the issue.

The government proposed the change, saying that it would enable Samoa's 214,000 people to buy cheaper right-hand drive cars from Australia and New Zealand than the left-hand vehicles currently imported from the United States.

This would encourage people on the two main islands, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, who currently live predominantly on the coast at risk of tsunamis, to move inland, the government said.

Radio New Zealand reported that the government will raise the maximum age limit for imported cars from eight years to 12 years to ensure that low-income families can afford to buy a right-hand-drive car. (dpa)