Could the UK drive on the right?
Discussion
Balmoral Green said:
Well, on our motorway and dual carriageway networks, we already do.
Peter S said:
My brother lives near Germany and had noticed that there seems to incidents almost every month of Germans driving down the wrong side of the Autobahns. He now reckons that it's more natural to drive on the left. The rest of Europe should join the majority (of population) who drive on the left.
Peter S, Sandy GB
Since the majority of the population is allegedly statistically right handed, under the remit of global health & safety, I suggest that the rest of the world adopt Right-Hand-Drive vehicles, and drive on the left. That way you can hold the wheel in a safer manner with your right hand whilst changing gear etc... with your left. In the interest of global casualty reduction, you know it makes sense.Peter S, Sandy GB
All left handed people will have to buy automatics, or have flappy paddle gearshifts so as not to compromise the safety of the majority.
I think the government are missing a trick here. It says in the link that Sweden reduced the speed limit after changing for a period of time. Why not here? Think of all that lovely revenue to generate from those evil basta*d speeding motorists killing children and lentil crops?
It's not comin because they can't make money out of it. Yet.
It's not comin because they can't make money out of it. Yet.
For normal people the sides of the brain which deals with reaction tasks and the side which deals with intricate tasks are the correct way round for left hand drive vehicles. hose of the gammy handed persuasion may find it the other way round, I don't know that side of things tbh.
Anyway it's too late for us nw, too many junctions have been designed for driving on the left to make it anything other than even more expensive to shift. Anyway some people drive right hookers in Sweden eg all Post Office vehicles.
Anyway it's too late for us nw, too many junctions have been designed for driving on the left to make it anything other than even more expensive to shift. Anyway some people drive right hookers in Sweden eg all Post Office vehicles.
The Irish considered this briefly when a euro friendly party got a lot of seats in their parliament. The question was quickly dropped. They asked "do we need to do this?" "No". "Will it cost a lot?" "Yes". "Will people die as a result of the change?" "Yes". "Why do it then?" They added that if the UK changed then they would have to as it would be only them and Malta who drive on the left.
Japan are the leading car producing nation and they drive on the left. Supply of cars will not be a problem. India is the second largest population on Earth, soon to be the largest. They are one of the largest growing markets for RHD cars. Demand will ensure supply is kept alive.
I've driven on both sides of the road in different countries. I've owned both LHD and RHD cars. neither is better. Why go to all that trouble for so little benefit?
Japan are the leading car producing nation and they drive on the left. Supply of cars will not be a problem. India is the second largest population on Earth, soon to be the largest. They are one of the largest growing markets for RHD cars. Demand will ensure supply is kept alive.
I've driven on both sides of the road in different countries. I've owned both LHD and RHD cars. neither is better. Why go to all that trouble for so little benefit?
I have it on good authority that the road signs are already in production and will include a change to metric measurements i.e. KPH and distance measured in KM's.
There is a EU Directive for the UK to join the rest of Europe and drive on the right and it is only a matter of time before it is implemented.
Now that we have the Chunnel there is no reason not to. We are either in Europe or we are not.
There is a EU Directive for the UK to join the rest of Europe and drive on the right and it is only a matter of time before it is implemented.
Now that we have the Chunnel there is no reason not to. We are either in Europe or we are not.
And - as they had in Samoa there will be a 2 day public holiday to adjust; with Buses, Lorries and other large vehicles changing over on the Monday and cars, motorcyles and other light vehicles changing over on the Tuesday.
On the Wednesday all Hospitals and emerency services will be on a code Red.
On the Wednesday all Hospitals and emerency services will be on a code Red.
and TRUE Here's a very interesting article from the historian Nick Baldwin about driving on the left v right, and the origins of it- written in the 1980s. Its well worth reading, and the left v right debate was not as obvious in the past!
....It is time we had another look at the vexed topic of right hand drive and left hand drive. We came to the conclusion that many French cars retained right hand drive, despite driving on the right, until the 1950s. This seems to have been partly due to snobbishness – it implied that one always or sometimes had a chauffeur who found it more convenient to step out directly onto the pavement to open the rear door for his passengers. There is also the suggestion that France and other countries with mountains placed the driver next to the road edge for safety – indeed Italy had right hand drive trucks until recent times.
Up to the 1920s many American, Italian and German cars came only with right hand drive and American fire engines favoured this layout up to the early 1930s. In general it was cheaper cars for owner-drivers that had left hand drive in their homelands, examples being the first Chevrolets, Citroens and Opels.
Plainly some markets required left hand drive cars from an early stage and British manufacturers responded. Initially it seems to have been Lanchester with cars for Brewster in America in 1920 but by the early 1930s the most common makes offered left hand drive. Rarer ones that also did were Invicta from 1927, Rolls-Royce and in the later 1930s, Jensen for such illustrious customers as Clark Gable.
So, on which side did foreigners drive? This is where it becomes really complicated. A 1907 continental touring guide from ‘The Car’ states only Bohemia stays on the left like Britain and passes on the right. However there were many anomalies as Italian towns with over 25000 inhabitants could decide individually and Milan and Turin for example favoured the left whilst Genoa had no hard and fast rule. Tourists were advised to enquire as soon as they reached the outskirts of a town!
In 1926 a French touring guide claimed that America had no hard and fast rules either, whilst countries that definitely drove on the left were Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Croatia, Slovenia and parts of Switzerland closest to Italy. Not surprisingly the British Empire followed Britain’s lead as did bordering countries and several that adjoined the main route to the East via the Suez Canal.
There is all manner of uncertainty as to why different sides arose. The suggestion is that in horse riding days one drew one’s sword with the right hand and therefore, out of mistrust for fellow road users, one always tried to meet them right hand to right hand. This makes sense but falls down when one takes into account exactly the same problem existing abroad yet the solution being the opposite.
With horse drawn vehicles, postillions rode the nearest horse to the left (nearside) front wheel and always mounted from the left. They held the reins in their left hands and the whip in their right. Apparently postillions operated the same in America and Europe as they did in Britain, so this hardly explains why they moved over to the right side of the road. One explanation is that they were then nearest to traffic coming the other way – which must surely have been just as necessary on our own generally narrower roads.
Curiously the rules of the sea have always been to pass on the right, which makes travelling on the right side of the road all the more logical, regardless of where the steering wheel is placed.
Apparently the majority of people have always been right handed, which means that in the past we have protected our hearts and the left side of our heads (which controls the right side of our bodies) with a shield held by our weakest arm, leaving the right arm to wield a weapon.
There is plainly much more research to be done but everything so far points to valid reasons for doing what we do whether we are brought up in countries with right or left hand drive. As one wag put it in 1809:
‘The rule of the road is a paradox quite, in driving your carriage along;
If you keep to the left – you are sure to go right.
If you keep to the right – you are wrong.’
Finally a few more dates of changeover. In addition to Sweden which we discussed last time, Panama, which had favoured the left as in Jamaica and the Virgin Islands, switched to the right in 1943 because of the opening of the Inter-American Highway.
At the start of 1946 China switched to the right but Japan and Hong Kong stayed on the left. Korea had driven on the right, but was forced to the left after it was invaded by Japan in the 1930s and then moved back to the right in 1946. Conversely Paris in 1911 nearly switched to the left because the lack of visibility when overtaking with a right hand drive car from the right to left hand side of the road. Which is of course exactly what British motorists have to contend with every day on the Continent.
....It is time we had another look at the vexed topic of right hand drive and left hand drive. We came to the conclusion that many French cars retained right hand drive, despite driving on the right, until the 1950s. This seems to have been partly due to snobbishness – it implied that one always or sometimes had a chauffeur who found it more convenient to step out directly onto the pavement to open the rear door for his passengers. There is also the suggestion that France and other countries with mountains placed the driver next to the road edge for safety – indeed Italy had right hand drive trucks until recent times.
Up to the 1920s many American, Italian and German cars came only with right hand drive and American fire engines favoured this layout up to the early 1930s. In general it was cheaper cars for owner-drivers that had left hand drive in their homelands, examples being the first Chevrolets, Citroens and Opels.
Plainly some markets required left hand drive cars from an early stage and British manufacturers responded. Initially it seems to have been Lanchester with cars for Brewster in America in 1920 but by the early 1930s the most common makes offered left hand drive. Rarer ones that also did were Invicta from 1927, Rolls-Royce and in the later 1930s, Jensen for such illustrious customers as Clark Gable.
So, on which side did foreigners drive? This is where it becomes really complicated. A 1907 continental touring guide from ‘The Car’ states only Bohemia stays on the left like Britain and passes on the right. However there were many anomalies as Italian towns with over 25000 inhabitants could decide individually and Milan and Turin for example favoured the left whilst Genoa had no hard and fast rule. Tourists were advised to enquire as soon as they reached the outskirts of a town!
In 1926 a French touring guide claimed that America had no hard and fast rules either, whilst countries that definitely drove on the left were Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Croatia, Slovenia and parts of Switzerland closest to Italy. Not surprisingly the British Empire followed Britain’s lead as did bordering countries and several that adjoined the main route to the East via the Suez Canal.
There is all manner of uncertainty as to why different sides arose. The suggestion is that in horse riding days one drew one’s sword with the right hand and therefore, out of mistrust for fellow road users, one always tried to meet them right hand to right hand. This makes sense but falls down when one takes into account exactly the same problem existing abroad yet the solution being the opposite.
With horse drawn vehicles, postillions rode the nearest horse to the left (nearside) front wheel and always mounted from the left. They held the reins in their left hands and the whip in their right. Apparently postillions operated the same in America and Europe as they did in Britain, so this hardly explains why they moved over to the right side of the road. One explanation is that they were then nearest to traffic coming the other way – which must surely have been just as necessary on our own generally narrower roads.
Curiously the rules of the sea have always been to pass on the right, which makes travelling on the right side of the road all the more logical, regardless of where the steering wheel is placed.
Apparently the majority of people have always been right handed, which means that in the past we have protected our hearts and the left side of our heads (which controls the right side of our bodies) with a shield held by our weakest arm, leaving the right arm to wield a weapon.
There is plainly much more research to be done but everything so far points to valid reasons for doing what we do whether we are brought up in countries with right or left hand drive. As one wag put it in 1809:
‘The rule of the road is a paradox quite, in driving your carriage along;
If you keep to the left – you are sure to go right.
If you keep to the right – you are wrong.’
Finally a few more dates of changeover. In addition to Sweden which we discussed last time, Panama, which had favoured the left as in Jamaica and the Virgin Islands, switched to the right in 1943 because of the opening of the Inter-American Highway.
At the start of 1946 China switched to the right but Japan and Hong Kong stayed on the left. Korea had driven on the right, but was forced to the left after it was invaded by Japan in the 1930s and then moved back to the right in 1946. Conversely Paris in 1911 nearly switched to the left because the lack of visibility when overtaking with a right hand drive car from the right to left hand side of the road. Which is of course exactly what British motorists have to contend with every day on the Continent.
lets see if im a right side driver, and im driving with a stick I manipulate the stick with my left hand...my right hand just coasts and has to hold the steering wheel..
BUT
left side drive requires the RIGHT HAND to manipulate the stick...
Which makes more sense IF your one of the majority on the planet that is right handed?
BUT
left side drive requires the RIGHT HAND to manipulate the stick...
Which makes more sense IF your one of the majority on the planet that is right handed?
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