Is it safer for right handed people to drive on the left?

Question

Yes it is and here is why:

When changing gear in a UK car with the steering wheel on the right , your left hand changes gear and your right hand stays on the steering wheel, (this is safer for right handed people.)

The reverse is the case in countries where one must drive on the right.-- in the USA you hold the steering wheel with your left hand and change gear with your right hand,this is dangerous if you are right handed.

Bicycles: Try mounting a bike in the USA and you will find yourself in the stream of traffic when getting on the bike---- try it yourself. Mounting a bike in the UK is done from the sidewalk by right handed people .

To reverse in the UK hold the steering wheel with right hand and look over my left shoulder to the rear window. In a USA car left hand is used and view is over right shoulder.

Right handed people are mostly "right eyed" the traffic comes toward them on their right in the UK but from the left in the USA.

Christian, Lucky guy, driving on the right is correct for left handed people.
"A systematic study * of the distribution of manipulative skill has been carried out by Marian Annett and colleagues from the Department of Psychology at Leicester University.

"A natural preference for the left hand in skilled tasks develops in as many as one individual in six. " Meaning of course that 5 out of 6 naturally use the right hand. (* Reproduced with permission of Leicester University UK

krenno, This came from the UK New Scientist magazine. Try everything for yourself you will find it is correct

krennao, in fact it was a letter in the New Scientist magazine

Hippie, you make a serious point, overtaking on RHD roads is more dangerous.

When overtaking on a right hand driving road the right eyed/handed driver looks in the mirror with the left eye and also views the oncoming traffic with the left eye. A change of gear is sometimes needed to overtake so he/she is driving left handed while changing gear with the right hand and looking in the mirror and oncoming traffic with the left eye. Of course the gear change should in theory be completed before pulling out but this in practice is not always the case. The prevalence of automatic gear change in the USA may not be just luxury after all but necessity

Tim S , no they are driving a car

Linda B , "better control of the brake and accelerator pedals by a right footed person driving in right hand traffic? " This is a fairly good point but it has been cionsidered. Both are simple operations up and down. The steering wheel is a complex operation and requires your dominant hand. LH driving countries are in denial of the facts I have stated because billions of people are driving on the wrong side. How can one expect massive populations to admit this?

Sorry RH driving countries are in denial not LH as stated above.

Steph, So that I can get anybody to explain the advantages of driving on the right for right handed people. There are none and billions are driving on the wrong side. Governments refuse to discuss this because of the expense of changing the world to the logistically correct side for the majority RH people.
I note you have no points to make so I take it you agree I am right

Tracing the history back NAPOLEON forced people to change from the logical LH driving because he was left handed. The USA changed to RH driving in order to spite the English when the USA gained independence. Changing to RH driving was a massive mistake and will have caused millions of accidents.

Answer 1

Driving on the right was a massive mistake, but as you say billions of people already drive on the right so they will deny the facts. The "right eyed" point is significant along with all the points you make; anyone wanting to prove this should try firing a rifle left handed (assuming they are right handed) and see what difficulty it creates.

You did not mention that RH side drivers either stick their heads out of the window or use wing mirrors when reversing.LH side drivers can look straight out of the rear window while using their RH to steer.

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure that when Tim S asked, "Are you driving a stick?" that he meant stick shift - manual transmission. ;)

Eye dominance isn't really that relevant when looking over your shoulder. Eye dominance is which eye are you using more, not which eye has better vision. Most people easily switch to the non-dominant eye when it has the better view. (Eye dominance may change to the better visioned eye, in which case it has nothing to do with "handedness".) I'm right-handed and sometimes my right eye is dominant and sometimes the left. I checked right now and neither one seems to be dominant at the moment.

I ride girls bikes. I get on from the side that is safer. I'm sure that many riders of boys bikes learn to get on from the safer side.

I don't think that which side of the road makes much difference to safety. We easily learn to use the non-dominant hand/foot. When you have always used the non-dominant hand for an activity, it becomes easier with that hand than with the non-dominant hand.

Have you considered possibly better control of the brake and accelerator pedals by a right footed person driving in right hand traffic? When I drove standard transmission vehicles, safety-wise, the brakes and the accelerator were more important than the clutch.

Answer 3

Firstly I am in UK (RHD).
Like most things you would be more comfortable with whatever you were used to?
I have been to USA a number of times and I did observe that many drivers use their right hand primarily to steer the car, although automatic transmission does make this possible.
The left arm is frequently hanging out the left window (drivers side in USA).
Admittedly this was in Florida and would assist in cooling the left arm.
In UK we generally drive with windows up most days as it is too cool. :)

Answer 4

I have driven over seas, and drive in the US, and I am right handed. I found no problems what so ever driving a stick shift in any lane I was in.. It's not like when your driving that you are always changing gears.

I don't see any safety vantages your trying to bring up.. Maybe if you posted some facts on causes of accidents due to which hand is used while driving, I can maybe agree some what. But there just does not seem to be any facts other then stating of what you have observed.

Answer 5

This is not an issue at all , it all depends on what you're used to - I learned to drive in Germany , left hand steering , came to Scotland and re-learned driving , right hand steering , there is no difference . I regularly go over to the continent by car and the only awkward situation is overtaking , when you can't really see what's coming at you , but that has nothing to do with being right handed

Answer 6

I drive a manual car in the United States and I'm right handed. I tend to contradict with your statement. First off it doesn't matter what hand I'm holding the wheel with as I believe I'd be able to maintain stability with my left hand on the wheel. Secondly, I think it's easier to change gears with your more dominant hand. Sometimes I'm driving with a drink in my hand and I try changing the gearshift with my left hand and its really awkward. But I guess I would get used it. I don't think its much of an issue.

Answer 7

Well I guess this could be true for people with horrible motor skills or that are very weak. But I feel much more comfortable driving with my left hand on the wheel than my right hand. Its not like it takes alot of strength to move the wheel etc.. It just sometime you get used to. Just like when flying a plane with has a co-pilot and captain. The captain flys with his left hand and right hand on the throttle and the First officer has his right hand on the yoke, joystick and left hand on the throttle. It does not make a difference it just takes getting used to using either hand. So really no your wrong, neither way is safer or more dangerous.
If I moved to a right hand drive country than I would feel uncomfortable using my left hand to change gears and my right to drive but after time I would get used to it.
Both my eyes are 20/20. And your supposed to use your mirrors more than you eyes for changing lanes etc..

Answer 8

LOL dear god. I am actually left handed so where's the problem.

Answer 9

Are thay driving a stick?

Answer 10

Why ask a question then answer it yourself?!
Lol