
Why do some countries drive on the left and others on the right? - stevekemp
http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/driving-on-the-left/
======
jakub_g
Interesting article. I enjoyed this part in particular:

> Pakistan also considered changing to the right in the 1960s, but ultimately
> decided not to do it. The main argument against the shift was that camel
> trains often drove through the night while their drivers were dozing. The
> difficulty in teaching old camels new tricks was decisive in forcing
> Pakistan to reject the change.

~~~
PhantomGremlin
My favorite bit has to do with a referendum held in Sweden:

    
    
       In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum
       on the introduction of right-hand driving. Although
    
       no less than 82.9% voted “no” to the plebiscite,
    
       the Swedish parliament passed a law on the
       conversion to right-hand driving in 1963.

~~~
moogly
The referendum held 1980 on the discontinuation of the reliance on nuclear
power was not upheld either.

~~~
kryptiskt
The winning alternative was to not stop using nuclear power until some point
in the future, where 2010 was thrown about but not set in stone. They're not
all that far from that schedule seeing that a couple of reactors have been
decommissioned.

Though I wonder what moral rights the people of 1980 really have to decide to
keep nuclear power for themselves while saddling the people of 2010 with the
trouble of shutting it down and finding alternatives, when those under 48 y.o
in 2010 didn't have a vote in the referendum.

~~~
vacri
Do parents not have a moral right to look after their children?

~~~
nmcfarl
Cushy set

------
markbnj
Interesting ideas. The cart driver sitting on the leftmost rear horse as a
reason for driving on the right I can buy. However, I have a harder time with
the idea that "feudal, violent societies" preferred to walk on the left in
order to maintain the best position for using a sword against an oncoming
opponent. The author doesn't locate this observation in time, other than to
mention "feudal," but I don't believe that a large enough percentage of the
people using the roads, at any time, carried swords for this to be a
determining factor in forming the custom.

~~~
shoo
This kind of sword-handedness argument reminds me of a similar argument for
deciding the directionality of spiral staircases:

    
    
      > Spiral staircases were a clever defence in medieval
      > castles. They were almost always built with the spiral
      > in the same direction (clockwise, when looking up from
      > the bottom) so that the defending swordsman, who would
      > either be coming down the stairs or backing up in
      > reverse, could freely swing his sword. Conversely, the
      > attacking swordsman (ascending the stairs) would have
      > his swing blocked by the wall.
      > This, of course, assumed that both attacker an defender
      > were right-handed, which most were.
    

[http://www.thejanuarist.com/clan-kerr-and-the-legend-of-
the-...](http://www.thejanuarist.com/clan-kerr-and-the-legend-of-the-spiral-
staircase/)

(there's a little more discussion there about left-handed swordsmen and left-
handed spiral staircases!)

~~~
copsarebastards
Right, but it's worth noting that's the opposite situation from road customs:
it's much more believable because a significant portion of people traversing
spiral staircases in castles _were_ carrying swords.

EDIT: Having now read your linked article, I'll add that the spiral staircase
story is more believable due to primary sources. :)

------
anotherevan
I remember in my teens in the early 80’s visiting the USA. Having come from
the left driving country which is the source of iocane powder, I was quite
startled when the taxi shot out into the middle of the intersection to do a
left hand turn instead of hugging the curb.

The linked[1] trivia article was quite interesting as well. Loved this bit: _A
newspaper story on April Fool’s Day suggested that, to further European
integration, the UK was to convert to driving on the right. However, owing to
the huge amount of work this conversion would cause, it would be phased in:
for the first six months the regulation would only apply to buses and taxis._

The mention of locations of turn signal levers also reminded me of the time I
drove a car which was opposite of what I am use to. Every time I went around a
corner I would switch the window wipers on.

[1] [http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/trivia-about-driving-
left/](http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/trivia-about-driving-left/)

~~~
Taniwha
I remeber the same joke being told (by Norwegians) about the Swedish change

On the border there had been country roads that crossed back and forth across
the border .....

And of course there's the issue of driving from Hong Kong to China

[http://www.fastcompany.com/1660258/ingenious-flipper-
bridge-...](http://www.fastcompany.com/1660258/ingenious-flipper-bridge-melds-
left-side-drivers-right-side-drivers)

~~~
joelwilliamson
The joke is also told in Canada about Newfoundland changing.

------
grecy
I'm about to begin a 2-year circumnavigation of Africa - I look forward to the
border crossings where swapping sides of the road is required - I'm told
they're quite interesting.

There is a nifty double roundabout between Brazil and Guyana where you enter
it one side of the road and when you exit you're on the other side of the
road.

~~~
jkot
Egyptians 2600 years ago circumnavigated Africa in 2.5 years. I guess
technology has not improved much over time ;-)

~~~
grecy
I'm in no hurry.

I spent 2 years on the Pan-American from Alaska to Argentina because I wanted
to. There is no rush.

~~~
tacticus
Hey just wondering (completely off topic) How much money do you need to have
for this sort of travel.

~~~
grecy
I spent $27k total in 2 years driing 40k miles from Alaska to Argentina [1]

I expect Africa to push closer to $20k/year.

If you're interested in this kind of travel, checkout
[http://wikioverland.org](http://wikioverland.org) \- it contains all the
logistical information you need to make a trip like this. (it's packed for the
Pan-American right now, and soon to be loaded with Africa too)

[1] Full breakdown: [http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-
adventure](http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-adventure)

------
m-i-l
_" In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road
because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies...
Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the
left side of the horse"_

I think this still applies today: the majority of people are right eye
dominant and it makes sense having the dominant eye closer to the oncoming
traffic, and the majority of people will find it easier to mount bicycles and
motorcycles from the side of the road rather than the centre of the road. I
wonder if there are any statistics on the safety implications of switching to
driving on the right.

~~~
mslot
I regularly drive on both sides. The only difference I find is that the order
of the pedals in a manual car makes less sense for left-hand drive. In right-
hand drive you can put your left (gear) foot to the side and your right
(throttle) foot locked against the side, which is more comfortable than
putting your left foot underneath and keeping your right foot up.

The differences in priority rules tick me off way more than the side of the
road.

~~~
brc
I have both LHD and RHD cars. I would say the placement of the pedals in
relations to the footwell is something that varies a lot depending on the
manufacturer and vehicle rather than 'sidedness'.

A lot of people say changing gear with their right hand feels more natural. To
be honest I don't think there is a lot of difference. If you're a competent
driver the position in the he car shouldn't make for much difference.

~~~
phillc73
Growing up in Australia, and being left-handed, I thought changing gears with
my left hand was completely natural. Now, after several years living and
driving in continental Europe, I still find it slightly uncomfortable changing
gears with my right hand, especially if in a hurry to do so.

However, the oddest thing is that when returning to Australia I now find
something like 90% of cars (excluding 4WDs) are automatic, so no changing of
gears. While in Europe, the majority of cars are still manual.

I do often turn on the windscreen wipers, when I mean to use the indicator,
regardless of which country I'm in.

~~~
escherplex
Many moons ago on holiday with my folks on Barbados in the Caribbean a local
rental outfit had a collection of old Oz MiniMokes available. Planning on a
month's trip to Kiwiland the following October and wanting to drive a manual
there, I decided to tool around the Island in a beat-up RHD Moke. Of course
pedal configuration was the same but a mirror-image of gear selection was
expected. Wrong. It was simply a task of envisioning the shifter in space and
changing gears in the normal manner using the left instead of the right hand.
But turning on the wipers when you wanted to signal a turn always takes some
getting used to. And roundabouts (circles) or wide turns aren't problematic if
you just simulate behavior in your head, remembering where you are, before
executing your moves. Personally, I still find this fun.

~~~
brc
Yes, if you have developed a 'relative' position patten in your head, it takes
a while to adjust.

The secret is to have an absolute position pattern in your head - you know
that first gear is up and to the left - and your brain is able to operate your
hands accordingly. Same as how you learn where the cupboards are in a kitchen
and can open them no matter where you are standing - you have an absolute
mental map of the kitchen.

It's probably because driving is a stationary activity that the brain develops
a relative map (move right hand this direction) rather an absolute (first gear
is over there)

------
betaby
There are may articles summarized historical reasons, however I haven't seen
reason why in France cars drive on right, while trains on left. Another
question which still puzzles me after all my trips to UK, London in
particular, should pedestrians on pavement walk on left or right? My eyes
tells me the most travel on right, but not always. Some underground station
signs say keep left.

~~~
mattnewport
The British Highway Code states for pedestrians:

 _2

If there is no pavement, keep to the right-hand side of the road so that you
can see oncoming traffic._

([http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians---
gener...](http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians---general-
guidance-1-to-6.html))

For the Americans, pavement in British English means sidewalk :)

After learning this (in school road safety lessons I think?) in general I
always assumed you should walk on the right as a pedestrian for consistency
(even though the highway code doesn't contain any rules for sidewalks) but
it's not universally observed, particularly in London where there are so many
foreign tourists.

~~~
TorKlingberg
In Sweden, where people drive on the right, I have have heard that you should
walk on the left side of the road if there is no sidewalk. But, when on a
sidewalk or footpath people will keep to the right.

~~~
shiggerino
Another curiosity with Sweden is that priority to the right has been codified
in law since the switch to right-hand traffic, but has never actually been
practised by motorists. Instead they have a bunch of unwieldy and dangerous ad
hoc rules, such as priority-to-the-crossbar-in-T-intersections and priority-
to-the-slightly-larger-road-in-4-way-intersections.

Also confusingly, when Swedes are about to make a left turn they keep to the
far right instead of the more logical left, and vice versa.

~~~
douche
Obviously, if the road you are coming on is perpendicular to another and dead-
ends (what I assume you mean by a T-intersection), then you should have a stop
sign, and the road that isn't dead-ending shouldn't have any stop-signs.

With the four-way you describe, I would usually expect to see a single light,
with it blinking yellow on the primary route, and blinky red on the secondary
road.

~~~
TorKlingberg
T-junctions in Sweden often have a stop or yield sign, but not always. When
they don't drivers on the through road should yield to cars turning in from
the right, but in practice the rarely do. Stop lights are not common in
smaller, low traffic junctions.

------
TimorDan
Seems like Timor-Leste (East Timor) may have changed over more times than any
other country.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-
hand_traffic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic)

East Timor had traffic on the left until 1928, when it changed to the right at
the same time as its colonial power, Portugal. During Japanese occupation
during World War II driving on the left was imposed, and when the Portuguese
returned it changed back to the right. Under Indonesian rule, East Timor
changed back to driving on the left in 1976, and continued the practice under
UN administration from 1999 and since independence in 2002.

------
dbish
Interesting to note that not all of the USA drives on the right. In the US
Virgin Islands people still drive on the left side of the road, but mostly
with cars made for driving on the right side.

~~~
douche
The Virgin Islands were originally Danish, I believe, and purchased after the
advent of the automobile.

------
andrewstuart
Australia is planning to move from left to right hand side starting in 2020
but it's a big change so the change will be phased in with trucks moving to
the right in 2020 and cars in 2021.

~~~
philwelch
How? Won't the cars and trucks run into each other?

------
davidcollantes
Bottomline, there is no sense in driving on the left _today_ , but it did
hundreds of years ago. Driving on the left (on those countries who do) has
simply stuck out of habit, customs, rules, or choice. The "there is a
perfectly good reason" should read, "there _was_ a perfectly good reason."

~~~
slyall
Bottomline, there is no sense in driving on the right today, but it did
hundreds of years ago. Driving on the right (on those countries who do) has
simply stuck out of habit, customs, rules, or choice. The "there is a
perfectly good reason" should read, "there was a perfectly good reason."

------
sandGorgon
isnt driving on the left (with the driver sitting on the right) the better way
of driving ? because the hand that you use to change the stickshift/gear.. or
change the radio ... or pick your coffee is the left hand. Which for most of
the population is their weaker hand ?

~~~
chrismcb
Actually isn't it the stronger arm, while your dominant hand has finer motor
control? Which means you want you left hand to control the left/right of the
steering wheel and the right hand to fiddle with the smaller knobs and
buttons.

~~~
sandGorgon
this is actually news to me. the way it was explained to me (and I'm not an
expert) is that you want your left brain on the steering wheel ... which means
the right hand.

But most right handed people control the steering wheel better with their
right hand than their left.

------
concerto
"In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began
hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses."

I am interested about this statement and why it didn't happen in the UK which
was also majorly agricultural in the same period.

~~~
redcalx
Perhaps the UK's extensive canal network? Hmm, what was/is the convention for
passing narrowboats? I presume it follows the road rule in all countries?

~~~
jarek
It doesn't in the UK. Canal and River Trust instructs to keep to the right:

"On all waterways, the rule of the road is to drive on the right. ... When you
do meet an approaching boat, keep to the right and pass ‘port-to-port’ (the
left side of your boat passes the left side of the approaching boat)."

[https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/navigating-the-
waterw...](https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/navigating-the-
waterways/boat-handling/casting-off-cruising-and-tying-up)

------
berkut
similar article:

[http://brianlucas.ca/roadside/](http://brianlucas.ca/roadside/)

------
pron
Anyone know what was the custom in the Roman Empire?

~~~
to3m
As always, Wikipedia has a page on just about everything:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-
hand_traffic#H...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-
hand_traffic#History)

``In 1998, archaeologists found a well-preserved track leading to a Roman
quarry near Swindon, England. The grooves in the road on the left side (viewed
facing down the track away from the quarry) were much deeper than those on the
right side. These grooves suggest that the Romans drove on the left, at least
in this location, since carts would exit the quarry heavily loaded, and enter
it empty.''

