2006-10-11 23:56:41 · 40 answers · asked by refik e 1 in Travel ➔ United Kingdom ➔ London
goes way back to knights of old. they wore their weapons on their left side so they could draw them across their body and carry their shields in their left ergo shield to shield fighting across body. That is the same reason european riders mount from the left as well and hold their reins in their left hand.
2006-10-12 00:01:23 · answer #1 · answered by auhunter04 4 · 9⤊ 0⤋
It isn't. The Brits drive on the same side as the Romans did in their chariots. In fact up until the French Revolutions any / all laws relating to traffic (not that there were many) had people drive on the left. The French made a stand against all that had gone before & adopted a new road law & calendar. Other revolutionary & / or anti- Brit movements adopted the drive on the right policy. Most (all?) of Africa, Australia, NZ , India & China drive on the same side as the UK. Therefore it more common than the other side of the road
2006-10-12 09:55:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The traffic is not on the wrong side just the other side, it doesnt make it wrong.
According to this page on World Standards, nearly all societies used to travel on the left side of the road. This made sense because life was a lot more violent back then. "Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent." Again, there are others reasons (including the different types of animal-drawn wagons), but near as we can tell, this is the main one.
As for why the United States and other countries drive on the other side of the road, perhaps we should blame Napoleon. France always drove on the right side of the road and as Napoleon conquered Europe, he allegedly "required the countries he conquered to conform to French practice." Kind of a jerky thing to do, but there ya have it.
Today, many folks still drive on the left. According to World Standards, 34% of people drive on the left hand side of the road. And that means you should always follow your mother's advice and look both ways.
2006-10-12 00:17:51 · answer #3 · answered by Samantha H 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Traffic is on the right (correct) side of the road in the UK. Wherever you come from is wrong. Deal with it.
2006-10-12 10:10:17 · answer #4 · answered by *sophie* 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's actually on the correct (ie historical) side. Napolean changed it because he didn't have use of his right arm and wanted to greet travellers with his left. So, gradually, this spread around mainland Europe. It's not just the UK that drives on the correct left - also Japan, India, Pakistan, Cyprus, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (in fact, much of Africa), Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, Thailand and most of the Caribbean islands.
2006-10-13 03:52:42 · answer #5 · answered by del_icious_manager 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not the wrong side it's just a convention which never had to be changed. A lot of Islands drive on the left-UK, Ireland, Japan etc.
I think that Sweden used to drive on the left but had to change in the end because of the inconvenience of changing at the border
2006-10-12 00:01:03 · answer #6 · answered by Charlotte C 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because they are on the opposite side of the world, and they sleep in the daytime too so it's the suction that holds the cars to the road- won't work on the other side.
This is also why gas is so $$ there, because of everyone driving on the wrong side.
2006-10-12 00:00:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you ever check to see if that question has been asked already? I've seen it posted so many times. We drive on the right ( left) side in the uk. Check out the history about horse riders being able to use their weapons in past centuries.
2006-10-12 07:48:34 · answer #8 · answered by diana - b 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If everyone drove on the same side of the road, the earth would stop spinning on its axis. There is therefore an international agreement for roughly 50% of the world population to drive on each side. So, Europe, USA, China, etc = Right; UK, Japan, India, Australia, etc = Left. Occasionally countries change sides (eg Sweden in above example) in order to make slight adjustments to the spin.
2006-10-12 00:18:56 · answer #9 · answered by Alyosha 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I live in the UK so why don't you tell me why you drive on the wrong side of the road?
2006-10-12 01:07:21 · answer #10 · answered by Purple 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The historical reasons have already been pointed out, however, I have driven both and although a UK resident most of my life, I have driven extensively on the right in LHD, and I actually prefer a left hooker.
However, if we changed to left hookers we would have to change the direction of most of the race tracks to anti clockwise!!
2006-10-12 02:38:13 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋