Why do some countries drive on the right, and some on the left hand side?

Question

nope lotte. im malaysia we drive on the left hand side

Answer 1

Isn´t Britain the only country that drives on the left hand side?

Answer 2

You mount a horse from the left.
If the left was facing the sidewalk, you would continue in that direction.

Can I come stay at your house?
Can I bum a cigarette?
Can ya let me have a couple of dollars?
Can I use yer phone so my boyfriend in jail can call me collect for phone sex?
Where do ya keep your credit cards?
Can I use yer car?
Can I have a few bucks for gas?
I don't like what you're having for dinner. Will you make me something else?

Answer 3

It evolved from traditions of Horse riding and of course in the horse prevelent days people did not visit other countries so much. It is difficult to change although Sweden did from right to left to be like most of Europe.

Answer 4

beacuse some cars have left steering wheel for "keep right" and ringht steering wheel for "Keep left" thats what i know

Answer 5

cause they were taught that way. its like asking how come there is different languages in diff parts of the world. cause we just do and caust there just is

Answer 6

goes back to something to do with the buggy and the horse

Answer 7

Thats becuase they have been practising it from the start!!

Answer 8

Depends on what they are used to...

Answer 9

wow GautamBuddha, looks like you did your research. touché and thanks?

Answer 10

In most early motor vehicles the driving seat was in the middle. Later some carmakers chose to have it nearest the centre of the road to help drivers look out for oncoming traffic, whilst others chose to put the seat on the other side so that the drivers could avoid damaging their vehicles on walls, hedges, roadside gutters and other obstacles. Eventually the former idea prevailed.

The advantages of driving on one side or the other typically concern conformity and uniformity rather than practical or natural benefits. There are historical exceptions such as postilion riders in France, but such historical advantages do not apply to modern road vehicles.

There is some evidence of cart tracks from a quarry in Blunsdon Ridge near Swindon which suggests that Roman traffic was on the left, and until the 18th century, this was probably the most common choice in Europe. However, driving on the right was more common in France; this was imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte (who is said to have been left-handed) on the countries he occupied, and thus it became the practice in their colonies

Driving on the right
Oncoming traffic is seen coming from the left;
The driving seat is usually on the left side of the vehicle, hence the designation left hand drive (LHD);
Left-turning traffic must cross oncoming traffic.
Most traffic signs facing motorists are on the right side of the road;
Roundabouts (traffic circles or rotaries) go anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise);
Pedestrians crossing a two-way road should watch out for traffic from the left first.

Advantages
When driving a car, a right-handed driver can operate the gear shift and other dashboard controls requiring fine motor skills with their right hand, while using their left to operate the steering wheel, which requires larger, less fine, movements. Race cars, even in countries that drive on the left, are usually configured with the gear shift on the right.
Traffic on roundabouts and other gyratory systems flows in a counter-clockwise direction. This is more natural to most people, who draw circles counter-clockwise and navigate buildings counter-clockwise by turning right upon entering. [1]
For bicycle and motorcycle riders, most arm signals are done with the left arm, allowing the right arm to steer the bike, which is easier and safer for the majority of people who are right-handed. This is especially important since handlebars have a steering ratio of 1°:1°, unlike a car, which is often closer to 10°:1° (10 degrees turning on the steering wheel results in a 1 degree turn of the wheels).
Approximately two-thirds of the world's population, and more of the driving population, live in countries that drive on the right. With increased international travel, it is safer and more practical for a country to drive on the same side of the road as its neighbours. This is the most common reason for countries to switch to driving on the right.
Left-hand drive cars tend to be cheaper, as they are usually produced in higher volumes than right hand drive equivalents, while many cars, particularly U.S. models, may not be produced in right hand drive at all. It is rare that models are produced in right hand drive only, except in Japan and Australia. However in Europe, this difference in price only occurs because of artificially inflated prices for the equivalent right hand drive models in the UK. Such price differentials are often outlawed by government regulations, for example by the European Commission.
Driving on the left
Oncoming traffic when driving on the left is seen on the right side.
The driving seat is usually on the right side of the vehicle, hence the designation right hand drive (RHD);
Right-turning traffic must cross oncoming traffic;
Most traffic signs facing motorists are on the left side of the road;
Roundabouts (traffic circles or rotaries) go clockwise;
Pedestrians crossing a two-way road should watch out for traffic from the right first.
[edit]
Advantages
With a right-hand-drive car, given that most people are right-handed, the less coordinated hand is used for changing gear and operating dashboard controls, leaving the more coordinated right hand free to steer. Driving on the left avoids the difficult combination of steering with the left hand and changing gear with the right hand and at the same time viewing the oncoming traffic with the left eye.
It is more common to be right-eye dominant. Traffic flows in a clockwise direction when driving on the left which enables right eyed people to use the right eye to see oncoming traffic. When overtaking on a right-hand-driving road the right-eyed driver looks in the outside mirror with the left eye and also views the oncoming traffic with the left eye which is not suited to the majority right-eyed people.
When reversing and looking over one's shoulder, the driver is able to keep the more coordinated right hand on the steering wheel in a right hand drive car. This also enables easier viewing through the rear window.
When driving on the left, right-handed people mount bicycles from the kerb, who find it easier to put their right leg over the bicycle. This keeps a right-handed bicycle rider out of the stream of traffic.
Research in 1969 by J.J. Leeming showed that countries that drove on the left had a lower accident rate than countries that drove on the right. Some countries that have switched to driving on the right (for example Sweden) saw their long term accident rates increase by more than any increase in traffic volumes.[citation needed] It has been suggested, but not proven, that this is partly because most people are right-eyed, and are therefore better able to judge the position of oncoming traffic when they see it on their right

Approximately one quarter to one third of the world's traffic goes on the left-hand side of the road. Some claim that this practice arose from the prevalence of right-handedness, although such prevalence occurs in virtually all populations, regardless of which side of the road is used. In any case, the need to be ready for self-defence on rural roads inclined most horse-riders to keep to their left when encountering oncoming wayfarers, so as to be able to deploy a sword or other hand-weapon more swiftly and effectively should the need arise. Also, those on foot and in charge of horse-drawn vehicles would more usually hold the animals' heads with their right hand, and thus walk along the left hand side of the road.

The first legal reference in Britain to an order for traffic to remain on the left occurred in 1756 with regard to London Bridge. The General Highways Act of 1773, contained a recommendation that horse traffic should remain on the left and this was enshrined in the Highways Bill in 1835.

The British author C. Northcote Parkinson has presented what he calls "proof" that the British way of driving (on the left side of the road) is the natural one.

It is commonly asserted that left-hand traffic is a singularly British custom, the corollary being that the rest of the world "naturally" keeps to the right when meeting. The historical record suggests otherwise. (See "Places of Interest " section below.) Prior to World War 1, countries observing the left-hand rule included parts of Canada, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, parts of Austria (those not conquered by Napoleon), Sweden, Iceland, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, parts of Brazil, parts of Chile, parts of Italy, China, the Philippines, and Burma. Russia changed near the end of the Tsarist period, Italy when Mussolini came to power, Austria when Hitler annexed it, the Latin American countries by 1945, the Philippines and China in 1946 (leaving Hong Kong and Macau isolated), and Burma/Myanmar in the 1970s on the advice of a soothsayer. Going back further in history and as mentioned in the History section above, we find that prior to the French Revolution in 1789, even in France travellers bore to the left when meeting. Indeed, when one examines the record, it appears that had it not been for Napoleon's military conquests following hard on the heels of the French Revolution, the world situation today may well have been that the majority of nations would observe the left-hand rather than right-hand rule.

Some ex-colonies of the British Empire continue to drive on the left, but others, such as Canada, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the United States switched to the other side.

Apart from former British colonies, most countries' traffic moves on the right side, but Japan, Indonesia, Macau, Mozambique, Thailand and the U.S. Virgin Islands are exceptions to this rule.

There are still many instances of traffic having to change sides at border crossings, such as at those between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Laos and Thailand, Sudan and Uganda. Thailand is particularly notable in the context of border crossings, as it is the only sizeable country that has nearly all of its borders with countries that drive on the opposite side. It drives on the left, but 90% (4357km or 2707 miles) of its borders are with countries that drive on the right, with only Malaysia driving on the left since Burma (now Myanmar) changed from left-hand driving to right-hand driving in 1970.


Change of traffic directions at the Laos-Thai borderSome countries have changed the side of the road on which their motorists drive in order to increase the safety of cross-border traffic. For example, former British colonies in Africa, such as Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Ghana, have all changed from left- to right-hand traffic, as they all share borders with former French colonies, which drive on the right. The former Portuguese colony of Mozambique has always driven on the left, as all its neighbours are former British colonies.

In the former British Crown colony of Hong Kong and the former Portuguese enclave of Macau, traffic continues to drive on the left, unlike in mainland China, despite the fact that they are now its Special Administrative Regions. However, Taiwan, formerly under Japanese rule, changed to driving on the right in 1946 after the government of the Republic of China assumed administration; the same happened in Korea (both North and South), a former Japanese colony under US and Soviet occupation.

[edit]
Foreign occupation and military transit
Many countries changed their rule of the road as a result of foreign occupation, notably during the Napoleonic Wars. More recently there are examples such as Austria, Czechoslovakia (details) and Hungary under German rule or military transit in the 1930s and '40s. The Channel Islands also changed to driving on the right under German occupation, but changed back after liberation in 1945. The Falkland Islands did the same under Argentine control during the 1982 Falklands War, (although the Argentine government officially ordered the islanders to drive on the right, they often drove on the left to assert their defiance to occupation). East Timor changed to driving on the left under Indonesian rule in 1976, and continues the practice as an independent state. The Japanese region of Okinawa changed from left to right under US occupation; after the occupation ended, it changed back to driving on the left to match the rest of Japan.

For safety reasons (and in some cases political or economic reasons), some countries have banned the sale or import of vehicles with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side.

In Australia, with one exception, this is the case with non-vintage LHD vehicles, with the result that Australians who import such vehicles usually must pay sometimes thousands of dollars to convert them to RHD. The exception is for vehicles registered in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT); because the ACT is the seat of Canberra, the national capital, more than a few diplomats bring LHD vehicles with them and are permitted to use them unchanged. This privilege has been extended to residents of the A.C.T. also.

In New Zealand, LHD vehicles may be privately imported, and driven locally under a LHD permit. Since 1999, only LHD vehicles older than 20 years or cars owned and operated for at least 90 days may be privately imported.

In the Philippines, RHD cars are banned. Public buses and vans imported from Japan are converted to LHD, and passenger doors are created on the right side. However, some vans keep their doors on the left side, leading to the odd (and dangerous) situation in which passengers have to exit toward oncoming traffic.

Cambodia banned the use of RHD cars, most of which were smuggled from Thailand, from 2001, even though these accounted for 80 per cent of vehicles in the country. The government threatened to confiscate all such vehicles unless they were converted to LHD, in spite of the considerable expense involved. According to a BBC report, changing the steering column from right to left would cost between US$600 and US$2000, in a country where average annual income was less than US$1000.


a RHD Toyota Landcruiser in front of a Pyongyang hotelNorth Korea, although it drives on the right, imported various used RHD vehicles from Japan, from tourist buses to Toyota Land Cruisers for its army and secret police, and cars for high rank party members.

However, many used vehicles exported from Japan to countries like Russia, Peru are already converted to LHD. But even if the driver's position is left unchanged some jurisdictions require at least headlights readjustment.

Singapore bans LHD vehicles from being imported for personal local registration, but temporary usage by tourists of LHD vehicles is allowed. It is also notable that embassy vehicles in Singapore are exempt from the RHD-only ruling, and that there are few hydrogen powered LHD vehicles currently undergoing trials in Singapore.

In Taiwan, Article 39 of the Road Traffic Security Rules (zh:道路交通安全規則) require a steering wheel to be on the left side of a vehicle to pass a inspection when registering the vehicle, so RHD vehicles may not be registered in Taiwan.

In Trinidad and Tobago LHD vehicles are banned except for returning nationals who were resident in a foreign country and are importing a vehicle for personal use. LHD vehicles are also allowed to be imported for use as funeral hearses.

In West Africa, Ghana and Gambia have also banned RHD vehicles.

Most of the above bans on RHD and LHD vehicles apply only to locally-registered vehicles. Countries that have signed the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic are not allowed to make such restrictions on foreign-registered vehicles. Paragraph 1 of Annex 5 states "All vehicles in international traffic must meet the technical requirements in force in their country of registration when they first entered into service". Therefore all signatory countries and most non-signatory countries allow the temporary import (e.g. by tourists) of foreign-registered vehicles, no matter which side the steering wheel is on. Oman, which has not signed the convention. bans all foreign-registered RHD vehicles. [2]

Both RHD and LHD vehicles may generally be registered in any European Union member state, but there are some restrictions and regulations. Slovakia, despite being a member of the European Union, does not allow the local registration of RHD vehicles [3], even if the vehicle is imported from one of the four EU countries that drive on the left (UK, Ireland, Cyprus, and Malta). If a LHD vehicle is registered in the United Kingdom, then its headlights must be permanently adjusted to dip to the left, which often involves the lenses being replaced.

Most headlights are manufactured so that when dipped, they are aimed slightly towards the kerb side. In this way, RHD vehicles' headlights dip to the left and LHD vehicles' headlights dip to the right. Within Europe, when driving a RHD vehicle in a country that drives on the right or a LHD vehicle in a country that drives on the left, it is a legal requirement to adjust headlights so that they do not shine towards oncoming vehicles when dipped. This may be achieved by fixing adhesive blackout strips to the part of the lens that deflects light to one side, but an increasing number of vehicles, particularly those with xenon headlights, can be more simply adjusted by a lever or switch on the back of the headlights, whenever switching sides of the road. However, the requirement to adjust headlights is respected by a decreasing number of drivers, and is now rarely enforced by European police forces. In France, this is probably because, since amber-tinted headlights were abolished in 1993, foreign-registered vehicles have been much less conspicuous at night.