Not trying to argue whether UK should drive on left or right, but just inquisitive to know when Sweden changed from left to right in as late as 1967, was there any plan for UK to change as well?
Was it abandonned because of prohibitive cost or it was never an option in fear of public outcry?
The way EU dictates laws nowadays, I am curious to know what was EU's view on this then? After all, in 1960s, a change would have been much simpler due to far less number of cars on road then.
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Never discussed in UK.
Eire wanted to phase it in, buses and lorries and cars 6 months later but it did not happen.
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"Never discussed in UK."
"Although the Department for Transport says it has no plans to change, it did examine such a plan in the late 1960s, two years after Sweden successfully switched to driving on the right."
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8239048.stm
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>> buses and lorries and cars 6 months later but it did not happen.
My Irish half sees the logic in this, those 6 months would have been a bit hair raising for car driver's.
:-)
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We are not the only country in the EU that drives on the left. Cyprus and Malta do too as well as Ireland. Never been an issue as far as the EU are concerned.
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The UK is a series of islands, there is no land border to consider so I doubt anyone sees it to be much of an issue ?
Historically I thought that Napolean set the driving on the right standard in Europe (possibly an urban myth), IIRC Italy drove on the left until the 1920s too. The UK standard of driving on the left being a result of carrying swords (100s of years ago of course) or something like that ?
Much of Asia and Africa drives on the left - Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan etc - the legacy of British rule. Nevertheless I don't see any standardisation on 'driving on the right' coming any time soon (if at all).
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Nigeria changed after independence - still possible to see corners with kerb layouts to suit LHD in downtown Lagos
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>> Much of Asia and Africa drives on the left - ** Japan** ,
>> - the legacy of British rule.
Didn't know we ruled them as well!
I wonder why they did choose the left, though?
I thought it was for swords as well... Though i wonder why Napoleon decided to do it the other way round?
What side does China drive on?
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The Italians drive in the shade.
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I thought we drove on the left as this was the sensible side to take whilst jousting.
The lance could be better held in the right arm which was the stronger arm for the majority of knights.
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I'd argue there must have been some consideration given because motorway junctions which are limited in the direction you can join would work identically if traffic direction was reversed.
Well, that is true for the ones I've met so far.
Nearest example to me is M40 and A3400 (A bit south of Hockley Heath).
You can't join the M40 to travel towards London from either access road.
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I have heard that Spaghetti Junction was designed with a possible change in mind, but realistically from the fifties on it was probably not feasible. Sweden had a much lower traffic density than the UK to contend with when they changed in '67. If it were tried today the cost would bankrupt the country even in prosperous times, with every road sign and most markings having to be changed overnight, and countless junctions having to be re-engineered.
One can imagine the death toll in the first year at least, as people simply forgot even for a moment.
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I think that I am right in saying that more people in the world drive (legally) on the left than on the right. Or am I dreaming?
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I have tried it though it does not go down too well with other road users ...
Seriously it is strange that it was never globally unified, left or right, however it would simply cost too much for any major country to change now.
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Last time I recollect it was 55% drive on Right and 45% on Left - not sure if this was the proportion of countries or by the volume of cars / traffic
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I can't vouch for the authenticity of the following.
"Though originally most traffic drove on the left worldwide, today about 66.1% of the world's people live in right-hand traffic countries and 33.9% in left-hand traffic countries. About 72% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the right, and 28% on the left."
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Too late to change now I agree and frankly it's not a problem to switch sides depending on which country you happen to find yourself in.
I quite like driving on the right though. For some reason it feels more natural no matter which side of the car the steering wheel is fitted. Can't really explain that even to myself.
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I find it more difficult to reverse a LHD car, looking over the other shoulder. Not because my judgement is impaired when I sit on the other side or anything. It just isn't natural. It's like holding a telephone to my right ear - I can't have a proper conversation because it's the wrong ear.
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As far as I understand it in Sweden long before the switch over to driving on the right, many people had already purchased LHD cars.
I dont think it would every happen here because of the huge cost of changing the infrastructure to suit driving on the right, ie road junctions, one way systems, car parks etc, and then there would be the cost of replacing evey bus/coach etc - a non starter IMHO.
cheers
Routemaster
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It's funny how as we drive on the left most people seem to walk on the right. On busy pavements with streams of people going in both directions I end up having to dodge out of everyone's way as my natural tendency is still to keep left. It takes me about 100 yards before I finally give in and switch.
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Have you noticed that the French rail system runs on the left like ours and like our roads, it was laid out by a Brit. However in Alsace it runs on the right because Alsace was part of Germany when the system was laid out.
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Driving on the left is intuitively correct as that was the side that horses were traditionally led on (being the "strong" side - for most) - Napoleon changed this to eradicate Anglo Saxon thinking so France and the rest of Europe followed suit - The English speaking world kept to the left - apart from the Americans (for anti-colonial reasons) - There were stats to show that countries that drive on the right have fewer accidents on roads....
Last edited by: Pugugly on Fri 31 Dec 10 at 11:04
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That's because the rule is supposed to be, walk facing the oncoming traffic. Only 50% of people know this.
Railway stations used to have keep right signs in subways etc, but I think they have changed to left now.
Conversely, the slow lane on escalators has always been on the left. Even though one-way, it suggests a keep-left basis.
For 10 bonus points : where is the only keep-right road in Britain?
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The Savoy Hotel.
and slow lanes on escalators are always on the right. So you can hold the handrail with your right hand.
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You are right Zero, It's a while since I sprinted up them every day. In which case it is consistent with keeping right normally.
Yes - too easy. Savoy Hotel.
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>>where is the only keep-right road in Britain?
I'm sure I've seen more than one where the entrance to a car park is off the RH side of a one-way street.
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>> I'm sure I've seen more than one where the entrance to a car park is
>> off the RH side of a one-way street.
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Yes, BTT. The Chester Street car park in Caversham follows this format. It can be a bit tricky to negotiate sometimes.
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Did UK ever consider driving on right? - Falkirk Bairn
