Is it now time for a global changeover to driving on the left?

Question

Driving on the left is correct for right-handed people the great majority, here is why:
When changing gear in a UK car with the steering wheel on the right , this is of course correct in the UK etc for driving on the left--------your left hand changes gear and your right hand stays on the steering wheel, (this is safer for right handed people.)
In the USA you hold the steering wheel with your left hand and change gear with your right hand because of course the steering wheel is on the left in the USA--------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 who find it easier to put their right leg over the bike
Reversing up a steep drive------when I reverse out I hold the steering wheel with my right hand and look over my left shoulder to the rear window. In a USA car you must hold the steering wheel with your left hand and look over your right shoulder to look out of the rear window.. So you must reverse with your left hand on the steering wheel.. Or stick your head out of the window if you want to use your right hand on the steering wheel. ---Dangerous for the 82% right handed majority.
Right handed people who are also "right eyed" have the traffic coming toward them on their right in left hand driving areas , which is the way "right eyed" people are able to react better. When overtaking on a right hand driving USA road the right eyed/handed driver looks in the mirror with the left eye and also views the oncoming traffic with the left eye

Dim Blonde, "there are arguments both ways"

What are the arguments for driving on the right?

Jet Doc, sorry to wake you up, I see you have almost understood the arguments .
The "right eyed" point is highly significant. Try shooting a rifle with the wrong eye and find out, yes you have binocular vision but on eye dominates .Experiments have been conducted showing that using the "wrong" eye causes more accidents even when used in binocular vision.

Leicester University UK did a study on the benefits of driving on the left for most 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. Annett and Kilshaw (1983) found that in a group of 1480 adolescents and adults, using a simple peg-moving task apparatus to assay hand skill, 82 % were more skilled with the right hand, 3% were equally skilled with each hand, and 15 % were more skilled with the left hand. When the disparity of skill between the two hands is plotted as a histogram, it becomes apparent that skill asymmetry is normally distributed: there is no clear separation into the two conventional handedness groups"

"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

Answer 1

I'm not suprised all these foreigners got it wrong. It started with the Americans and the French just being awkward even though they were cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

As to the suggestion that we use automatics....how can we put it in words for you simple minded to understand. Automatics are a boon for certain types of disabillity but if you've been driving for more than six months using an automatic shows that you really can't control a car and should be walking.

From a human rights perspective foreigners should be allowed to do stupid things when they are abroad.

Answer 2

Well actually the reason why we drive on the left is for historical military reasons. We used to ride horses and fight with swords. Keeping left enabled us to use the right hand for holding and fighting with the sword.

The same applied to fights with lances. The riders kept left and held the lance in the right hand. Yes, some people are left handed, but the vast majority were right handed.

I don't think these things matter anymore. However whilst you make some good points, there are arguments both ways.

EDIT:- How about just about the whole friggin world drives on the right, that is about as good an argument as you could have. Remember what Sweden had to do when it changed from left to right? And the huge cost.

The vast majority, if not all, countries that drive on the left are our colonies, ex colonies or have some strong historic association with us. Every other country in the world thinks it's best to drive on the right. Unless we were there. Yes, ok so we are so arrogant we believe we are right and the rest of the world is wrong? Is that you argument. Because all the points you made are really minor and insignificant, let alone good enough to get the whole world to spend billions of dollars changing over because it's safer to get on a bicycle. Haahhahahah

I moved from Left hand drive to right hand drive country. It makes absolutely no difference. I change gear and control the car just as well, as do all other drivers, I can assure you reversing holding steering wheel is just the same with the left or right hand, unless you are a total cretin. And I don't ride a bike, just been called one a few times.

Answer 3

What R U suggesting? Most drivers have a hard enough time driving now, whether it is on the left or right side of the road. Imagine if they changed to the left side driving in the USA and someone didn't get the word?

Answer 4

Several parts of your statement have problems. First of all, most right handed drivers have better control of their right hand than their left, so it is much easier for them to work the gearshift with their right hand. The average person can use either eye to see, so that is not a factor.

The steering wheel is the easiest thing to deal with, no matter if you are left or right handed. The simple fact is that with most vehicles having power steering, you can work the wheel with your knees (not recommended).

Another factor would be the training, adjustment, and cost of adapting to the left side. While many highways could be changed with just signage and signals changed, other roads would require major changes to adapt to turns and other situations! You would be looking at a cost in the billions of dollars!

Would you expect people to have their cars retrofitted for steering on the right side, or would you expect people to drive their cars with the wheels on the left, and adapt to the new rules of the road!

Driving on the right is the way many countries do it now, and I see no reason to change that!!

Answer 5

Driving on one side of the road is not intrinsically safer than driving on the other. I'm left-handed, but my right arm is not a useless appendage hanging at my side - I can drive equally well on either side of the road, depending on what country I'm in, and I'm no cleverer than anyone else.

Regarding the history of who-drives-on-what-side, the following is the standard answer that I post every single time this question comes up -

"Here we go again with all the old chestnuts about guns and spears, etc.

"Here's the real reason. In some countries (like this one), the driver of a horse-drawn vehicle would sit on the front of the vehicle. If he had a team of four or more, his whip would be quite long and would need a lot of room to swing it. So the driver (who would usually be right-handed) would sit on the right, and to see the road better he would drive on the left. Other countries favoured the "postillion" style of driving, where the driver would sit, not on the vehicle, but on one of the horses. To control all of them with his right hand, he would therefore sit on one of the left-hand horses. To see the road better, then, he would drive on the right. The world didn't suddenly change from horse-drawn vehicles to motor vehicles overnight - there was a period of transition where both were using the road (which is still going on if you think about it), so drivers of motor vehicles had to follow the same rules, and before long it was made law. (The law of "rule of the road" wasn't necessary before motor vehicles, because (a) drivers did it anyway, and (b) there wasn't an issue of safety.)

"You might be interested in the next bit.

"Whips were only part of the way drivers controlled horses - it was mostly done by verbal commands. "Come on" meant "left" (come on to the kerb), and "get off" meant "right". (Well, HORSES understood it.) That's why the "offside" of the road is so-called. The left side of the roadwas called the "onside", but was changed to "nearside" by car drivers. There are many driving terms that are leftovers from the horse-drawn days - even the word "driving" itself. "Drive" is something you do to an animal - it means to "urge" or "encourage" - you can't do that to an inanimate object like a car. But we still use the word anyway. And what about when you "pull up" outside someone's house? That's how you stop a team of horses - you "pull up" on the reins."

Answer 6

I'm with Jet Doc.... You are the minority.... But I could care less what side of the road you drive on.

With the advent of power steering and automatic transmissions, your point is a moot one.

As far as the bicycle goes.... Is there something that prevents me from mounting a bicycle from the right??? Is it going to fall over because I got on it from the "wrong" side? DUH!!!

Having driven a truck for the last 30 years, the "blind side" is the blind side no matter which side of the vehicle it's on... so again.. your point is moot.

Like Jet Doc said.... I don't drive with only one eye open... I use both. If you are only relying on one eye, you should sell your car and stick with your bicycle that can only be mounted from the left.

By the way... Please don't go to the US or the rest of Europe that drives differently from you with the intent of driving a car. You will become a traffic hazard, and we have enough of those already without you coming here to gum up the works.

Answer 7

1. So why do millions of drivers in the rest of the world outside your pissy little island seem to do just fine driving on the right? Most of them drive cars with automatic transmissions, so don't need to shift gears while driving.

2. WTF does getting on a bicycle have to do with anything?

3. How often does the vast majority of the world's drivers actually HAVE to reverse up a steep driveway (If ever)? Answer: My guess is less than 0.01 percent of the time.

4. My right eye is dominant for shooting and threading a needle. I don't plan on doing either of these things while driving a car. I use BOTH eyes. It's called binocular vision, and is very important in judging distances while driving.

5. GET A LIFE!

Answer 8

I once read that Napoleon forced a big change to driving on the right because he was left handed and as you point out it is logical for left handed people to drive on the right.

Perhaps there should be a change but don't hold your breath. people all over the world have been kidding themselves that driving on the right is correct for centuries now.

Answer 9

you mean us british have actually got something right!!!!!
thats amazing-its usually us that has to change to fit in with everyone elses way of doing things-EEC rules etc
Brilliant!!!!!
Yeah make them all drive on the left hehehehehe

Answer 10

Driving on the left is wierd. You should switch sides.