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Author Topic: Which side of the road?  (Read 281 times)

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Offline magooch

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Which side of the road?
« on: November 16, 2009, 04:05:06 PM »
My wife and I were discussing something about driving and the question came up about which side of the road do people drive on in countries around the world.  About the only ones I'm pretty sure of is the US, Canada, Mexico and Great Britain.  I know I could probably look it up somewhere, but this is easier.  Go.
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Which side of the road?
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2009, 09:47:17 PM »
With the exception of the UK, all European, and Middle Eastern countries drive on the right.  North, Central, and South American Countries all drive on the right as well.

Can't say about African and Asian countries.  As well as the islands of the Caribbean and South Pacific.
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Offline no guns here

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Re: Which side of the road?
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2009, 12:41:46 AM »
Japanese cars are right-drive... they drive on the left.


NGH
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Offline Will Bison

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Re: Which side of the road?
« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2009, 03:15:01 AM »
Quite a few of the Commonwealth Countries drive on the left side. In Africa it can vary with the country. When I was in India I asked if they drove on the left side or the right side, the answer was YES. In the Bahamas we drive on the left side but in American cars that are driven from the left side.

One of the more interesting places I drove was Christmas Island (the one South of Hawaii). At that time the island was a joint US/UK protectorate. The roads were divided in sectors, in a UK sector we drove on the left and in a US sector we drove on the right. We never drove at night due to the Land Crabs, drive over them and tires will blow out. ;D
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Offline MGMorden

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Re: Which side of the road?
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2009, 09:02:10 AM »
Interesting tidbit why a lot of the countries drive where they do:

In Britain and many such nations they were used to riding horses since medival times.  Since most people are right handed, keeping to the left ensured that your sword was available for striking if need be.  Also with a sword hanging off your left side (the easiest postition to draw from for a right handed person), riding on the left ensured that your scabbard wouldn't hit another rider as you passed.

In the US when our country formed swords were mostly gone.  People were driving large wagons with teams of horses though.  The early versions of this often had to driver seat, and instead the driver sat on the back rear horse.  This allowed him to keep his right hand available for lashing the horses, and driving on the right side ensured that as he passed another wagon he could ensure that the wheels would clear each other. 

These days though some countries have changed either by preference or by legislation.  MOST seem to drive on the right side though.

For a breakdown on each country:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic
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