What is the reason behind left hand drive and right hand drive in different countries?
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Mithil Kamble
Mithil Kamble, Research Assistant at UCincinnati
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Originally Answered: Why do so few countries follow the convention of left hand road traffic flow instead of right hand road traffic flow?
About 35% of the world follows left hand convention and most of them are former British colonies. How the convention came about and later continued makes an interesting story.
It is interesting to note that the reason for both the conventions is same, preponderance of right handed personnel in society.
Left Hand Convention:
(Objects | Royal Armories)
In olden feudal and violent times all the societies preferred left hand convention. It offered various advantages if one was right handed. One could -
keep right weapon wielding hand closer to the opponent and scabbard away from him.
avoid inconvenience of bumping into someone else's scabbard
mount/dismount on horse easily. Since right handed men mount horse from the left (since scabbard is on left) keeping on left allowed one to dismount on edge of the road.
Right Hand Convention:
(Page on Gutenberg)
With new advents agricultural production started to rise transportation of crop became problematic. Immediate solution in US and Denmark was carts being pulled by multiple horses (higher horsepower, quite literally). The wagons did not have a seat and again, majority of right handed men decided to follow right hand convention. Going from right hand side of the road one could -
ride the rearmost horse on the left, leaving right hand free to whip horses.
easily monitor oncoming vehicles and their wheels which are coming from the opposite side
French Revolution, Napoleon, British and the mess that ensued:
(Sorce)
In pre-revolution France the aristocracy traveled on the left, forcing peasant to use the right side. However, after revolution, to save themselves from the guillotine, aristocracy preferred walking on the right to keep low profile. Therefore right hand convention became unwritten rule in France.
Arrival of Napoleon messed the whole thing up. He started enforcing Right hand convention in all the conquered countries (Germany, Poland, Switzerland etc). Naturally, his opponents vehemently maintained the left hand convention, British being at the forefront. Europe was literally divided due to these conventions till first world war.
Road regulations were established everywhere in 1800s. British enforced left hand convention in all her colonies. That's the reason India and previous African colones still follow left hand convention (Egypt being exception due to Napoleon's conquest).
US had already amended laws to enforce right hand convention, to escape the British roots of origin. Right hand convention was gradually becoming more prevalent and further bolstered by mass production of American automobiles. British conservatives have resisted the homogenization of this convention obstinately.
Today only four European countries, including Britain, follow left hand convention. In 1960 even British tried to switch to right hand convention. However, the conservatives and involved cost proved to be too daunting to bring about the change.
Current convention followed are as depicted below:
(Source:Countries driving on the left or right)
Written 20 Nov 2013 • View Upvotes
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MORE ANSWERS BELOW. RELATED QUESTIONS
Why and how did the rules of left-handed and right-handed driving come up in different countries?
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Who has the upper hand while driving a left handed car, a right handed or left handed person?
What is it like to drive a left-handed car if all you have ever driven is a right-handed car?
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Is there any major advantage between left and right hand drive cars?
Which cars with a right hand drive are available for sale in the United States?
Which country was the last to change from right to left drive (or vice versa)?
How did Sweden organise the change from left hand to right hand driving in 1967?
How is left-hand driving better that right-hand driving?
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What is the sequence in which tyres of a car wear out generally? (Right/left hand drive)?
What would happen if the United States changed from left-hand driving to right-hand driving?
If I can only write with my left hand and do everything else with my right hand, am I truly ambidextrous?
What is it like to drive a UK right-hand drive car on the Continent?
OTHER ANSWERS
Rastislav Turek
Rastislav Turek, Founder & CEO of Pexe.so
8.8k Views
Originally Answered: Why do the British drive on the left-hand side of the road?
This explanation comes from the amazing book "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" (http://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Dr...)
As the historian Peter Kincaid describes it, the reason why you drive on the right or left today has to do with two things. The first is that most people are right-handed. The second is that different countries were using different forms of transportation at the time that formalized rules the road began to emerge. 
The way in which the first consideration intersected with the second consideration explains how we drive today.
Thus a Samurai in Japan, who kept his scabbard on his left side and would draw with his right arm, wanted to be on the left as he passed potential enemies on the road. So Japan today drives on the left.
In England, horse-drawn carts were generally piloted by drivers mounted in the seat. The mostly right-handed drivers would "naturally" sit to the right, holding the reins in the left hand and the whip in the right. The driver could better judge oncoming traffic by traveling on the left. So England drives on the left.
But in many other countries, including the United States, a driver often walked along the left side of his horse team or rode the left horse in a team (the left-rear horse if there were more than two), so that he could use his right arm for better control. This meant it was better to stay to the right, so he could judge oncoming traffic and talk to other drivers. The result is that many countries today drive on the right.
Written 17 Jun 2012 • View Upvotes
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Sachin Jadhav
Sachin Jadhav, Mech grad
2k Views
Originally Answered: Why do some countries have left-hand driving while others have right-handed driving?
It goes back to the fact that most humans are right handed.
Long before we had modern weapons such as guns and automobiles, people had to do battle using swords and horses. Now if you are right-handed, you wear your sword on the left, so that you can draw it out rapidly with your right hand. But with that long, dangling scabbard encumbering your left side, the only way you can mount a horse is by throwing your free right leg over him. And unless you are in Mel Brooks movie and want to wind up sitting backward on your steed, that means that the horse's head has to be pointing to your left. To this day we still train horse to be saddled and mounted from their left sides.
Now that you are mounted, you will want to stay on the left side as you start down the road, because anyone coming towards you will be on your right, and if that someone turns out to be an enemy, you can whip out your sword with your right hand and be in position to run the scoundrel through. Thus, prudent horsemen have always ridden on the left side of the road.
This left-side convention was also honoured by horse-drawn carriages in order to avoid annoying collisions with horse-men. When horseless carriages made their appearance, some countries continued the habit, especially during the overlap period when both kinds of carriages were competing for road space.
So why do people drive on the right in the U.S. and many other countries?
When swords went the way of bows and arrows, the need of defending one's right flank disappeared and traffic rules were suddenly up for grabs. Younger or less tradition-bound countries migrated to the right, apparently because the right-handed majority feels more comfortable hugging the right side of the road. It quickly occurred to left-handed people that it was unhealthy to argue with them.
The country that I'm living in must have large number of ambidextrous people, because they seem to prefer the middle of the road.
Updated 21 Apr 2013 • View Upvotes
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Ernest W. Adams
Ernest W. Adams, Game Design Consultant, Author, and Professor
40.5k Views • Upvoted by Clare Celea, I have lived in seven countries
Ernest has 80+ answers in Countries.
Originally Answered: Why do the British drive on the left?
The legendary answer, which is almost certainly wrong, is that medieval knights passed each other on the left in combat so that their right arm would be facing the right arm of their oncoming opponent, and each would be holding the sword. This assumes they were both right-handed, of course.
A related legendary answer is that you mount a horse from the left, or near, side, and the side away from traffic if you drive on the left.
In reality it never really mattered until the invention of the car, when it began to be possible to encounter an oncoming one at speed. Many European countries used to drive on the left, but those on the Continent eventually harmonized on the right so they could use the same vehicles and didn't have to switch sides at the land borders. Sweden didn't change until 1967, comparatively recently.
As Britain has no land borders, it never had any strong need to switch. The same goes for
คืออะไรเหตุขับรถทางซ้ายมือ และขวามือขับรถในต่างประเทศถามอีกครั้งFollow234ลูกศิษย์ที่ 234 Glenard Munson รวมทั้งการสอนขับรถและการจราจรความปลอดภัย 20 + ปีใน FAQ ในวัฒนธรรมอังกฤษมุมมอง 81,000คำตอบที่ 51Mithil KambleMithil Kamble ผู้ช่วยวิจัยที่ UCincinnati6.6 k วิวตอนแรก ตอบ: ทำไมเพื่อประชุมของกระแสจราจรถนนซ้ายมือแทนกระแสจราจรถนนขวามือทำตามไม่กี่ประเทศประมาณ 35% ของโลกดังต่อไปนี้ประชุมทางซ้ายมือ และส่วนใหญ่จะเป็นอดีตอาณานิคมอังกฤษ วิธีการประชุมมา และต่อไปในภายหลังทำให้เรื่องราวน่าสนใจเป็นที่น่าสนใจทราบว่า สาเหตุทั้งอนุสัญญาเดียวกัน กำกับสิทธิมอบบุคลากรในสังคมซ้ายมือประชุม:(วัตถุ | รอยัล Armories) ใน olden ศักดินา และรุนแรงเวลาประชุมต้องซ้ายมือสังคมทั้งหมด นำเสนอประโยชน์ต่าง ๆ ถ้าหนึ่งถูกมอบ หนึ่งสามารถ-เก็บอาวุธขวา wielding มือใกล้ชิดกับฝ่ายตรงข้ามและฝักให้กับพระองค์หลีกเลี่ยงความไม่สะดวกของชนในฝักของผู้อื่นภูเขา/ยกเลิกเมาต์บนม้าได้ด้วย ตั้งแต่ขวามอบคนม้าภูเขาจากซ้าย (เนื่องจากฝักอยู่ทางซ้ายมือ) ให้ทางซ้ายได้การยกเลิกเมาต์บนขอบถนนขวามือประชุม:(หน้าบนกูเทนแบร์ก) ขนส่งพืชผลก็ไม่มีปัญหากับ advents ใหม่เกษตรเริ่มขึ้น แก้ไขปัญหาทันทีในสหรัฐอเมริกาและเดนมาร์กได้รถที่ถูกลาก โดยม้าหลาย (แรงม้าสูง ค่อนข้างอักษร) เกวียนได้ไม่มีที่นั่ง และอีก ส่วนใหญ่มอบคนตัดสินใจตามแผนขวามือขวา ไปด้านขวามือของถนนหนึ่งอาจ-ขี่ม้า rearmost ซ้าย ขวามือฟรีแส้ม้าออกจากง่ายต่อติดตามยานพาหนะที่กำลังมาถึงและล้อของพวกเขาที่มาจากฝั่งตรงข้ามฝรั่งเศสการปฏิวัติ นโปเลียน อังกฤษ และระเบียบที่ตามมา:(Sorce) ในก่อนการปฏิวัติ ฝรั่งเศสขุนนางเดินซ้าย บังคับให้ชาวนาใช้ด้านขวาทาง อย่างไรก็ตาม หลังจากการปฏิวัติ การบันทึกตัวเองจากกิโยติน เก่า ๆ ต้องเดินทางขวาไปเก็บก็ ดังนั้น ประชุมขวามือกลายเป็น กฎ unwritten ในประเทศฝรั่งเศสมาถึงนโปเลียนเลอะสิ่งทั้งหมด เขาเริ่มต้นการบังคับใช้อนุสัญญามือขวาในการตุ้นประเทศ (เยอรมนี โปแลนด์ สวิตเซอร์แลนด์เป็นต้น) ธรรมชาติ คู่แข่งของเขาโดยรักษาประชุมมือซ้าย อยู่ในอังกฤษ ยุโรปถูกแบ่งออกอย่างแท้จริงเนื่องจากข้อตกลงเหล่านี้จนถึงสงครามโลกครั้งแรกถนนระเบียบถูกก่อตั้งขึ้นในเพราะทุก อังกฤษบังคับซ้ายมือประชุมในอาณานิคมทั้งหมดของเธอ นั่นคือเหตุผลที่อินเดีย และแอฟริกา colones ก่อนหน้านี้ยังติดตามประชุมซ้ายมือ (มีข้อยกเว้นเนื่องจากชนะของนโปเลียนอียิปต์) สหรัฐอเมริกาได้แล้วแก้ไขกฎหมายเพื่อบังคับใช้การประชุมทางขวามือ หนีอังกฤษรากของต้นกำเนิด ขวามือประชุมได้กลายเป็นค่อย ๆ แพร่หลายมากขึ้น และเพิ่มเติมนั้นสนับสนุน โดยผลิตรถยนต์อเมริกัน อนุรักษ์นิยมอังกฤษมี resisted homogenization ของอนุสัญญานี้ obstinatelyวันนี้เพียงสี่ประเทศในยุโรป รวมถึงสหราชอาณาจักร ปฏิบัติตามอนุสัญญาทางซ้ายมือ ใน 1960 แม้อังกฤษพยายามสลับไปขวามือประชุม อย่างไรก็ตาม อนุรักษ์และต้นทุนที่เกี่ยวข้องกับพิสูจน์ให้ยุ่งยากเกินไปที่จะนำการเปลี่ยนแปลงตามแผนปัจจุบันเป็นแสดงด้านล่าง:(แหล่งที่มา: ประเทศขับซ้ายหรือขวา)เขียน 20 2013 พฤศจิกายน•ดู UpvotesUpvote77DownvoteComments7 +คำตอบเพิ่มเติมด้านล่าง คำถามที่เกี่ยวข้องทำไม และอย่างไรได้ของ left-handed และ right-handed ขับมาในต่างประเทศหรือไม่มีประโยชน์ใด ๆ ในทางซ้ายมือขับไปทางขวามือขับรถผู้มีมือบนในขณะขับรถด้านซ้ายเป็นมอบรถ คนมอบสิทธิ์มอบ หรือซ้ายมันคืออะไรเช่นขับรถมือถ้าทั้งหมดที่คุณเคยขับรถถนัดหนึ่งที่ดีกว่าจากมุมมองของความปลอดภัยและความสะดวกสบาย: ขับรถทางขวามือหรือซ้ายมือขับรถมีประโยชน์สำคัญใด ๆ ระหว่างซ้ายและขวามือขับรถยนต์ซึ่งรถยนต์ ด้วยการขับรถทางขวามือจะมีขายในสหรัฐอเมริกาประเทศที่มีช่วงการเปลี่ยนจากขวา ไปซ้ายไดรฟ์ (หรือในทางกลับกัน)How did Sweden organise the change from left hand to right hand driving in 1967?How is left-hand driving better that right-hand driving?How much does it cost to change a right hand drive car to a left hand drive car?What is the sequence in which tyres of a car wear out generally? (Right/left hand drive)?What would happen if the United States changed from left-hand driving to right-hand driving?If I can only write with my left hand and do everything else with my right hand, am I truly ambidextrous?What is it like to drive a UK right-hand drive car on the Continent?OTHER ANSWERSRastislav TurekRastislav Turek, Founder & CEO of Pexe.so8.8k ViewsOriginally Answered: Why do the British drive on the left-hand side of the road?This explanation comes from the amazing book "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" (http://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Dr...)As the historian Peter Kincaid describes it, the reason why you drive on the right or left today has to do with two things. The first is that most people are right-handed. The second is that different countries were using different forms of transportation at the time that formalized rules the road began to emerge.  The way in which the first consideration intersected with the second consideration explains how we drive today. Thus a Samurai in Japan, who kept his scabbard on his left side and would draw with his right arm, wanted to be on the left as he passed potential enemies on the road. So Japan today drives on the left. In England, horse-drawn carts were generally piloted by drivers mounted in the seat. The mostly right-handed drivers would "naturally" sit to the right, holding the reins in the left hand and the whip in the right. The driver could better judge oncoming traffic by traveling on the left. So England drives on the left. But in many other countries, including the United States, a driver often walked along the left side of his horse team or rode the left horse in a team (the left-rear horse if there were more than two), so that he could use his right arm for better control. This meant it was better to stay to the right, so he could judge oncoming traffic and talk to other drivers. The result is that many countries today drive on the right.Written 17 Jun 2012 • View UpvotesUpvote118DownvoteComments5+Sachin JadhavSachin Jadhav, Mech grad2k ViewsOriginally Answered: Why do some countries have left-hand driving while others have right-handed driving?It goes back to the fact that most humans are right handed.Long before we had modern weapons such as guns and automobiles, people had to do battle using swords and horses. Now if you are right-handed, you wear your sword on the left, so that you can draw it out rapidly with your right hand. But with that long, dangling scabbard encumbering your left side, the only way you can mount a horse is by throwing your free right leg over him. And unless you are in Mel Brooks movie and want to wind up sitting backward on your steed, that means that the horse's head has to be pointing to your left. To this day we still train horse to be saddled and mounted from their left sides.Now that you are mounted, you will want to stay on the left side as you start down the road, because anyone coming towards you will be on your right, and if that someone turns out to be an enemy, you can whip out your sword with your right hand and be in position to run the scoundrel through. Thus, prudent horsemen have always ridden on the left side of the road.This left-side convention was also honoured by horse-drawn carriages in order to avoid annoying collisions with horse-men. When horseless carriages made their appearance, some countries continued the habit, especially during the overlap period when both kinds of carriages were competing for road space.So why do people drive on the right in the U.S. and many other countries?When swords went the way of bows and arrows, the need of defending one's right flank disappeared and traffic rules were suddenly up for grabs. Younger or less tradition-bound countries migrated to the right, apparently because the right-handed majority feels more comfortable hugging the right side of the road. It quickly occurred to left-handed people that it was unhealthy to argue with them.The country that I'm living in must have large number of ambidextrous people, because they seem to prefer the middle of the road.Updated 21 Apr 2013 • View UpvotesUpvote29DownvoteComments3Ernest W. AdamsErnest W. Adams, Game Design Consultant, Author, and Professor40.5k Views • Upvoted by Clare Celea, I have lived in seven countriesErnest has 80+ answers in Countries.Originally Answered: Why do the British drive on the left?The legendary answer, which is almost certainly wrong, is that medieval knights passed each other on the left in combat so that their right arm would be facing the right arm of their oncoming opponent, and each would be holding the sword. This assumes they were both right-handed, of course.A related legendary answer is that you mount a horse from the left, or near, side, and the side away from traffic if you drive on the left.In reality it never really mattered until the invention of the car, when it began to be possible to encounter an oncoming one at speed. Many European countries used to drive on the left, but those on the Continent eventually harmonized on the right so they could use the same vehicles and didn't have to switch sides at the land borders. Sweden didn't change until 1967, comparatively recently.As Britain has no land borders, it never had any strong need to switch. The same goes for
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