Just heard from "ducky" in NCIS (TV)that we drive on the left hand side of the road because most people are right handed and in medieval times they were able to slash their victims with their swords whilst riding along on the "roads".
Cant find anything to support this so is it o duff fact for TV ???
2007-07-20 09:16:03 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
Got a thing for the goth girl too, just cant think why...LOL
2007-07-20 09:25:54 · update #1
http://www.amphicars.com/acleft.htm
enjoy ya reading..
oz drives on the left also , so does ireland =)
ducky was right, but i prefer the goth gal ;-)
2007-07-20 09:21:17 · answer #1 · answered by junglejungle 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A logical reason for picking a side to pass (which is what driving on the which side of the road is all about) is so people don't do that dance back and forth as they both try to go the same way and eventually collide.
Ships have the following code: (sail ships have some different rules depending on the wind direction)
When two power-driven vessels are meeting head-on both must alter course to starboard so that they pass on the port side of the other. (The left).
So England adopted the Maratime tradition, which also fits with the horse-and-sword idea.
this site: http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm says that France and the USA had a setup where wagons had the driver on the rear left horse of a team rather than on the wagon; so the logical place for the carts to pass was on the right; you can get on and off without being run down.
The countries that drive on the left tend to be English colonies (Australia, NZ, India, Ireland) or Japan, which during its modernization adopted the English habits. The big exception - Canada - copied the Americans, as a large number of dissenting colonists ("United Empire Loyalists") came to Canada from the USA after the revolution.
Continental Europe got the habits from Napolean, who conquered most of the continent for 15 years, so imposed French standards.
Many companies - BMW, Mercedes, etc - make cars for all markets, so the majority of parts are interchangeable - i.e. the chassis has the necessary holes to install the steering on either side, only a few parts need to be different (Left or right dashboard). Some car makers (American, especially) have skipped the foreign market of have specific factories (i.e. Ford in Australia) to make cars only for that market.
I guess basically, you had to pick A or B, some chose A, some chose B.
Japan drives on the left, but after the war one of the 4 main islands was switched by the US military to drive on the right. (They had trouble adapting to a different system - says something about the US military) Until a decade or so ago, it was the only country with both drive-by sides in different areas. That must have been a big change, to switch the driving side of the road overnight for quarter of the population!
2007-07-20 11:53:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anon 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Erendis, England is not different,
they drive on the right side of the road
which is the Left side, which in turn is
the right side of the road to be on!!
2007-07-20 09:33:34 · answer #3 · answered by retired gentleman 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yep, that's very true. See site below for the details.
Erendis (above); 2 billion people in the world drive on the left, in 74 countries. So, I really don't think England is "so different" after all!
2007-07-20 09:26:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
there are countries in which you drive on the left and others you drive on the right.
It depends on the cars. Always remember that the driver should be in the middle/center of the road, never will he/she be nearer to the pedestrian side.
But why we have different cars in different regions of the world, I don't know.
2007-07-20 09:21:42 · answer #5 · answered by angelofcharlie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in britton, or countries that used to be part of the brittish empire drive on the left because in medievil times people on horseback would draw their swords with their right hands(most people being right handed) to approching traffic. ireland and australia, are examples.most of europe drives on the right. holland, spain, france and germany are examples of this.
2007-07-20 16:36:48 · answer #6 · answered by bob 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we don't tension on the left component to the line. We tension on the journey. in case you're conversing approximately the place the motive force sits interior the motor vehicle, it is promptly corrolated to what section we tension on. in case you tension on the best component to the line then you definitely are on the best component to the motor vehicle. in case you tension on the left like individuals than it is in basic terms logical to be placed on the left component to the motor vehicle.
2016-11-10 00:00:11 · answer #7 · answered by piazza 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That would make sense except that there were no medieval times in America. In Europe, they drive on the left (they had medieval times in Europe).
Nosoop4u
2007-07-20 12:48:52 · answer #8 · answered by nosoop4u246 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I drive on the right side of the road . . .
2007-07-20 12:36:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Actually. most people drive on the right side of the road. I don't know why England is so different.
Anyhow, here's an article on the issue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_on_the_left_or_right
2007-07-20 09:19:17 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋