Why do some countries drive on the right and some left
Why some countries drive on the left and others right.
About a 35 units of the world's population on the left and the countries that are mostly former British colonies This quirk embarrasses the rest of the world, but there is a very good reason Click here for a map and a list full of all countries of the world and the side of the road on which they drive.
favorite rightist knights keep to the left in order to have their right arm close to an opponent.
In the past, almost everyone traveled on the left side of the road because it was the most reasonable option for feudal societies, violent Since most people are right handed, swordsmen preferred to stay to the left in order to have their nearest right arm of an opponent and sheath over it more, it reduces the risk of sheath worn left hitting others.
In addition, a right-handed person finds it easier to ride a horse on the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if you wear a sword that would be worn on the left, it is safer to get on and off to the side of the road rather than in the middle of traffic, so that if one goes on the left, the horse must be mounted on the left side of the road.
In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began transporting agricultural products in large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses These cars had seat driving; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm to lash the team since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everyone to move to the left so that he can look down and make sure he kept clear of the wagon wheels oncoming so he kept on the right side of the road.
In Russia, in 1709, the Danish envoy under Tsar Peter the Great noted the widespread custom in Russia for traffic to move right, but it was not until 1752 that the Empress Elisabeth Elizaveta Petrovna officially released an edict for traffic keep right again, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a big boost to travel in Europe right the fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy traveled to the left of the road, forcing farmers to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants right official right maintenance rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel Denmark, where driving on the right was made compulsory in 1793.
Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the news Rightist the Netherlands to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and many parts of Spain and Italy States which had resisted Napoleon kept left Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal the European division, between nations to the left and right hand would remain fixed for more than 100 years after the First World war .
Although Sweden left driving ceded Finland to Russia right to drive after the Finnish War 1808-1809, the Swedish law, including traffic rules remain valid in Finland for 50 years, it wasn t until 1858 a Russian imperial decree exchange alongside Finland.
The trend among nations over the years has been to driving on the right, but Britain has done its best to avoid global homogenization With the travel expansion and road construction in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in all countries driving on the left hand was made mandatory in Britain in 1835 the countries that were part of the British Empire followed suit this is why to this day, India, Australia and the former British colonies in Africa go left an exception, however, is Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.
Japan has never been part of the British Empire, but also its traffic goes to the left While the origin of this practice dates back to the Edo period 1603-1868, it wasn t until 1872 that this rule unwritten became more or less official that was the first year that Japan railway was introduced, built with the technical assistance of British Gradually, an extensive network of railways and tram tracks has was built, and of course all trains and trams drove on the left side again, it took half a century until, in 1924, driving left was clearly written into law.
However, when the Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1596, they brought along their habit of driving on the left, it wasn t until Napoleon conquered the Netherlands that the Dutch began driving on the right most of their colonies, remained left Indonesia and Suriname.
During the first years of English colonization of North America, English driving customs were followed and the colonies led left after independence from England, however, they were eager to cast off all links stay with their British colonial past and changed gradually to the right -hand conduct Moreover, the influence of other European immigrants, especially the french, should not be underestimated law requiring the first driver to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, and similar laws have been adopted in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813.
Horse and cart on the left side of the road in Vancouver, British Columbia, 1880.
Despite the developments in the United States, parts of Canada continued to drive to the left until shortly after World War II on the territory controlled by the French Quebec in Louisiana led to the right, but the territory occupied by the British in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland kept left British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces have moved to the right in the years 1920 to conform with the rest of Canada and Newfoundland US led left until 1947, and joined Canada in 1949.
In Europe, other countries driving on the left switched one by one to the RHD Portugal has changed in the 1920s The change took place on the same day throughout the country, including territorial settlements, however, that lined other countries left pipe was why it is exempt from Macau, Goa is now part of India and Portuguese east Africa has kept the former east Timor system, which edges of the frame-driving Indonesia has unchanged right though, but traffic in the left hand was reintroduced by the Indonesians in 1975.
In Italy, the practice of driving on the right began in the late 1890s The first code of the Italian highway, published June 30, 1912, said that all vehicles must drive on the right Cities with a tram network, however could hold the left hand driving if they placed warning signs at their city borders the 1923 decree is a little strict, but Rome and the northern cities of Milan, Turin and Genoa could still keep left until further notice from the Department of public Works in the mid-1920s, right -hand behavior finally became the norm throughout the country Rome made the change on March 1, 1925 and August 3, 1926 Milan.
Until 1930 Spain had no national traffic regulations Parts of the country have pushed right e g Barcelona and others have led to e g left Madrid on 1 October 1924 Madrid made RHD.
When the Nazis marched into Austria March 12, 1938, Hitler ordered the whole of Austria to switch to driving on the right.
The breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire caused no change in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary continued to drive on himself left Austria was something of a curiosity half of the country led to the left and the right half Unsurprisingly, the line was precisely the area affected by the conquests of Napoleon in 1805.
The Austrian states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Carinthia and the western half of the city switched to driving on the right between 1921 and 1935 when Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered the rest of the Austria to make the change overnight change launched the motorists in turmoil, because motorists were unable to see most of the road signs in Vienna, it was impossible to change the trams overnight, and although all other traffic has the right of the road, trams continued to run left for several weeks Czechoslovakia and Hungary, among the last states in the continent of Europe to keep to the left, right after changed was invaded by Germany in 1939 and late 1944, respectively.
Meanwhile, the power of the law is growing steadily American cars are designed to run on the right by placing the pilots control on the left side of the vehicle with the mass production of reliable and economical cars to States States, initial exports used the same design, and by necessity many countries have changed their rules of the road.
Gibraltar has changed to right-hand traffic in 1929 and China in 1946. Korea is now the right engine, but only because he went directly from the Japanese colonial rule in the American and Russian influence in late WWII Pakistan also considered changing right into the 1960s, but decided not to do the main argument against the change was that often leads camel train in the night while their drivers were dozing the difficulty in the old camels new tricks teaching was decisive in forcing Pakistan to reject the change in Nigeria, a former British colony, was driving on the left with British imported cars drive right, but when it gained independence, he wanted to rid of its colonial past and conduct moved to the right in 1972.
After World War II, Sweden driving left the intruder in continental Europe, felt increasing pressure to switch sides in order to comply with the rest of the continent The problem is that their neighbors already conducted on the right side and since there are many small roads without border guards leading to Norway and Finland, we had to remember where one of the country was.
In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum on the introduction of right conduct Although not less than 82 9 voted no in the referendum, the Swedish Parliament adopted a law on conversion to right to drive in 1963. Finally, the change to place Sunday, September 3, 1967, at 5 in the morning, the day was called Dagen H, or, in English, the day H H means Högertrafik, the Swedish word for right-hand traffic.
Samoan workers are repainting road markings in 2009.
All traffic of private motor vehicles was banned four hours before and one hour after the conversion, in order to reorganize all signs Even the army was called in to help also a very low speed limit was applied, which was raised in a number of steps the process took about a month after the successful switchover in Sweden, Iceland has changed the following year, in 1968 April 2, 1972 Nigeria has swapped sides and Ghana did the same thing in 1974.
In the 1960s, Britain was also given a change, but conservative government in the country did everything they could to stifle the proposal in the bud In addition, the fact that it would cost billions of pounds to change everything around was not much incentive Finally, Britain abandoned the idea Today, only four European countries still drive on the left in the UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta.
On September 7, 2009, the Independent State of Samoa not to be confused with the American Samoa became the third country to move from right to left driving Samoa had been driving on the right, because he had become a German colony in the early 20th century , although it has been administered by New Zealand after the first World war and gained independence in 1962. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi wanted to exchange the sides to make it easier to import cheap car left hand driving Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Click here for a complete list of all countries of the world and the side of the road leads on each.
Click here to find out why the wheel is on the left side of the car in the countries of straight pipe and vice versa.
Why some countries drive on the left and some on the good standards of the world, some country road, left.