Driving on the "wrong" side of the road?

[Yeah Bee]

Why do you english people drive on the left side and why doesn't the rest of the world follow you, I assume that England and America were the country where motoring started but why do they then differ. Has there been any suggestions on a change to get in line with the rest of the world, Any more countries where you drivew on the "wrong" side of the road?

[MC HP]

Japan, Australia, South Africa, Ireland to name a few wrong siders. . check out this link:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/8414/drive-rig ht.htm

[MC HP]

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/8414/drive-rig ht.htm

[scrambler]

No - surely we drive on the correct side, it's the rest who drive on the 'wrong' side!!

[ianess]

Agreed scrambler.........all civilised countries drive on the left.

[Yeah Bee]

There must be a reason to either side of the road, not just stubborn brits

[SteveD]

Read the text of the link posted by MC HP.

 

"....a world permanently divided between countries that drive right (about 3.5 billion people) and those that drive left (about 2.5 billion)."

 

There is no right and wrong - it's just the way it happened.  It's nothing to do with "stubborn Brits".

 

Your original question has been asked on Answerbank two or three times recently.  If you do a search, you may find some other links explaining the "right and left" differences.  It is interesting to note that some countries changed sides relatively recently (Austria & Sweden for example) while some parts of the US used to drive on the left while others drove on the right!  There is also at least one country where they used to drive on the right, then changed to the left, then changed back to the right again.

 

Someone also recently asked what happens at the land borders between "right" and "left" countries.

[wizard]

The irony is, there would be no America as we know it now if it wasn't for the us sailing over in the Mayflower. So at the end of the day, we decide what we want and you should just accept it.

[ianess]

It`s difficult to be serious with questions like this but the most common theory is that, as most of us are right-handed, it`s all to do with horse riding and sword fighting.   It`s easier to wield a sword in your right hand and hold the reins in your left, so that`s where riding/driving on the left came from. 

[Ewood27]

I've also known someone suggest seriously that Americans driving on the right and passing other traffic going in the other direction cause the air to swirl anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise to you!) and thus contribute to starting tornadoes.  So you see, it's all your fault.

[cowboyuser]

2 points, 1, motoring started in Germany (Mercedes) and then swiftly followed by Ford in America and 2 is for WIZARD, America would still be there if we hadn't "discovered" it, do you think all the natives living there looked down and said 'wow, they're right, there is land here!' when the pilgrims arrived!!!???!?!?!??

[wizard]

No, im saying that if we didnt set sail all them years ago then America would probably still be natives hunting bears or whatever they did. It may not be as much as a civilised state, oh wait a minute, look at your President.

[Yeah Bee]

cowboyuser that is a bit egocentric and very condescending, anyone agree? Why shouldn't the native americans be able to build a similar civilasation like ours. The Mayan, Aztec and Inca were highly developed and scientific.  

[Pinotage]

Britain has been driving on the left for 2000 years, proof is in ancient cart tracks ground to a quarry where the grooves worn in the rocks were deep on the left side coming out, showing the laden carts came out on the left.

 

Its likely everyone - at least in the area covered by the Roman empire - drove on the left up until the time of Napolean (a left hander)  who decreed that his troops would henceforth march on the right. Napoleans empire covered much of mainland Europe. After he was removed they didn't revert back, and contiguous countries found it easier to switch, Sweden only doing so in 1967.

 

The America's illegally rebelled against their rightful King, and were aided by the French. The US had a great affinity with France then and adopted many French customs (including decimal currency) and rejecting British traditions.

 

Look at countries outside the French/American influence and see how many drive on the left, including far off, and cut off for many years, Japan

[Pinotage]

PS - have there been any suggestions in the US that you change to driving on the correct - i.e. left side?

 

After all its not your French chums that are supporting the US to acquire oil in Iraq

[ianess]

Well said....Pinotage.    Time for Bush to do something really constructive to show his appreciation.......especially as there`s an election coming up!

[steevee]

I remember reading somewhere, perhaps in one of Bill Bryson's books, that the Americans drive on the right due to the fact that the wagons used by pioneers to the west had the "driving" position on the left side, so these horse-drawn vehicles were naturally driven on the right hand side of the track.

[Kev_UK]

I'd been driving manual cars with right hand drive for over 20 years, then I bought an american car, automatic and left hand drive. It seemed strange to start with, but now I can go from left to right hand drive, manual to auto without thinking about it. I have 3 american cars, so all left hand drive. My wife is from Canada so she was used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road (still does when she isn't thinking straight LOL). We went to Canada & USA in October and she slipped up once and drove on the wrong side (must've thought she was in UK lol). It seemed strange to me to drive on the right instead of the left .. maybe if I was driving a right hand drive there it would be better, who knows. The advantage of driving a left hand drive car in England is if you get lost, you can stop for directions and pedestrians are right next to you. The disadvantages are seeing passed white vans or buses that are parked up. Where I live we do drive on the right a lot due to overtaking parked cars LOL

[landie]

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that it was Napoleon Bonaparte who first introduced 'riding' on the right of the road.

Basically he did it to be bloody-minded after losing at Waterloo and the french carried on with that tradition. Other nations with french ties followed suit and continued to do so after the introduction of the motor vehicle.

I don't know why the USA adopted the French format - you would expect them to follow Britain?

[hell driver]

NZ drives on the correct side of the road, as for left, this originates from the tower bridge where traffic congestion went that some sort of traffic controll system was needed, this was the 'keep left rule' and that originates from Jousting, Since most people where right handed, you wanted to be on the left so you could easily strike your opponent.