# Adjacent countries that drive on opposite sides of road **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563 "2018-11-15T16:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/1 "2018-11-15T16:09:00Z")
How do countries handle - that is, what traffic configuration do they implement at border crossings where two nations have different laws concerning the side of the road one drives on? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/2 "2018-11-15T16:45:06Z")
I think it was Sweden that made the big switch to match continental Europe a decade or two ago? And Japan - one island had been switched by the occupying Americans to drive on the wrong side, and a while ago made the switch back to match the rest of Japan. But what they did at the “intersection point” before that, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/3 "2018-11-15T16:58:17Z")
Basically, they use border control to funnel people into the right places. You can see a good one at the [Hong Kong/China border control.](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@22.5099194,114.0760195,833m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en&authuser=0) Most of the others seem to use a similar thing. Or they don’t care - the Pakistan/Afghanistan one seems particularly light on any actual control, and they seem to just… try not to crash into each other. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/4 "2018-11-15T16:59:55Z")
[Here](https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2013-04-15/lotus-bridge-macau-maphead-ken-jennings)’s an article on it. There’s a variety of ways, including a simple traffic stop to switch, complicated bridge designs, and such. In many cases there just isn’t enough traffic to make it worth putting in a complex scheme. Mostly, we’re fortunate that most of the remaining left side drive countries are islands. There aren’t too many cases this occurs anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/5 "2018-11-15T17:12:03Z")
Sweden switched to right side driving in 1967. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/6 "2018-11-15T17:13:16Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Or they don’t care - the Pakistan/Afghanistan one seems particularly light on any actual control, and they seem to just… try not to crash into each other. :dubious::rolleyes: What the fuck are you talking about? You go into in parking area (using the correct side for country of departure) are checked and then leave using the correct side for country of arrival. On the China border there is a tunnel and you see signs warning you before you enter the customs area. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/7 "2018-11-15T17:37:53Z")
There is of course a tunnel under the English Channel between The UK and France. Here is a video showing a driver entering the EuroTunnel from the UK side. Looks like you just switch to the right side after the passport checks: [Driving the Channel Tunnel - Folkestone to Calais - YouTube](https://youtu.be/l8eyefAgpDc?t=348) ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/8 "2018-11-15T17:43:14Z")
Sweden switched in September 1967. I was there that summer and they had all of the new stop signs, etc. in place but covered. One Sunday(? I’m pretty sure it was) they were going to go out and uncover the new ones and cover the old ones. We drove across the Swedish-Norwegian border at some place pretty much on a line between Stockholm and Bern so it was probably a fairly well used crossing point though I don’t recall much traffic. You could travel between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway with no border control. There was no building or parking lot there were simply two concrete islands in the middle of the road with signs. The first read keep left. (though as I didn’t read Swedish or Norwegian, I assume what I saw was an arrow pointing left). The second sign read Keep right. (ditto). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/9 "2018-11-15T18:39:22Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > :dubious::rolleyes: > What the fuck are you talking about? **Moderator Note** Let’s dial it back. No warning issued, Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/10 "2018-11-15T18:47:27Z")
There’s a [column](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1052/when-happens-when-you-drive-between-two-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-the-road/) from a former Perfect Master about this. Probably not his best column, though. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/11 "2018-11-15T18:54:51Z")
Sweden’s “Dagen H”: > **[Dagen H](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H)** > > Dagen H (H-day), today usually called "Högertrafikomläggningen" (lit. 'the right-hand traffic reorganisation'), was on 3 September 1967, the day in which Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. The "H" stands for "Högertrafik", the Swedish word for right-hand traffic. It was by far the largest logistical event in Sweden's history. > There were various arguments for the change: > However, the change was unpopular; in a 1955 referendum, 83 percent voted to keep ... That demonstrates that it CAN be done. As observed, the bordering countries of Finland and Norway were driving on the right. Another reason they had for switching is interesting - they were already mostly driving cars with the steering wheels on the “wrong” side: > [@](#): > > Approximately 90 percent of Swedes drove left-hand drive (LHD) vehicles.[3] This led to many head-on collisions when passing on narrow two-lane highways, which were common in Sweden due to the fact that the country’s low population density and traffic levels made road-building expensive in per capita terms.[4] City buses were among the very few vehicles that conformed to the normal opposite-steering wheel rule, being right-hand drive (RHD).[5] That was because many of them at that time drove American import vehicles. Before Sweden had a lot of traffic, and had very narrow roads, that was actually seen as an advantage as it allowed the driver to squeeze by on narrow roads more easily by having a good view of the side of the road out the driver’s side window. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/12 "2018-11-15T19:35:28Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > There is of course a tunnel under the English Channel between The UK and France. Here is a video showing a driver entering the EuroTunnel from the UK side. Looks like you just switch to the right side after the passport checks: [https://youtu.be/l8eyefAgpDc?t=348](https://youtu.be/l8eyefAgpDc?t=348) It’s all one-way as you drive onto the trains, so you’re never “driving on the right” in the UK. Similarly the first bit as you leave the train when you get to France is one-way, but there are signs to remind you to keep right as you emerge into France proper (you can see one at 14:25 in that video). In practice it would be well-nigh impossible to drive on the wrong side straight out of the tunnel, because the exit road funnels you onto a dual carriageway (divided highway). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/13 "2018-11-15T19:42:01Z")
Missed the edit window: Similarly, when you arrive off the Eurotunnel train in England, you are funnelled along one-way roads. At the first point where you join a two-way road, there is a sign to remind you to keep left: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0929688,1.1031158,3a,21.4y,273h,89.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1souVszPfIV0bi4LRjX95tzg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656). Then there are fairly regular reminders: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0948964,1.1042497,3a,25.9y,92.51h,82.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYvTabIQo6PETjVegKqFGyQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) (For anyone who isn’t aware, you don’t drive through the Channel Tunnel, you either take a Eurostar passenger train, or else drive your car onto trains called Eurotunnel or “Le Shuttle”). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/14 "2018-11-16T00:11:08Z")
There aren’t that many boundaries between countries where the side of the road you drive on changes: > **[List of left- & right-driving countries](https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/)** > > This world map shows which side of the road traffic drives on. Below it you can also find the full list of countries that drive on the left or the right. A lot of the left-driving countries are islands (including Ireland, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Japan). In South America, it’s just Guyana and Suriname, so if you drive into those countries from elsewhere in South America, you have to change sides. In Africa, it’s a set of countries all together in the southeast of the continent. In Asia, it’s Thailand, plus a set of countries all together in the area around India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. So it’s not as though you can expect to go driving on a long journey and constantly go back and forth from one side to the other. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/15 "2018-11-16T11:55:08Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > In South America, it’s just Guyana and Suriname, so if you drive into those countries from elsewhere in South America, you have to change sides. As far as I can tell from looking at Google Maps, there aren’t any roads that cross the borders of Guyana or Suriname. There is a car ferry from French Guiana into Suriname, but apart from that, you’re hacking through jungle or taking a boat across a river. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/16 "2018-11-16T12:04:17Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Mostly, we’re fortunate that most of the remaining left side drive countries are islands. :dubious: All of Southern and Eastern Africa and the entire Indian subcontinent[drive on the left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic#/media/File:Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/17 "2018-11-16T14:34:29Z")
Most of the countries, not most of the population. Yes, the population of those countries driving on the left is often small. Still, it’s a whole lot of islands. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/18 "2018-11-16T14:40:44Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > :dubious: > All of Southern and Eastern Africa and the entire Indian subcontinent[drive on the left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic#/media/File:Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg). Ever since they built the Suez Canal, Africa has been an island, right? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/19 "2018-11-16T14:44:14Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Most of the countries, not most of the population. :smack: n/m, although I think that’s irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563/20 "2018-11-16T14:53:47Z")
Although actually, even that is wrong, obviously it _is_ relevant because it’s country-to-country links that are the issue. Forget I said anything. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adjacent-countries-that-drive-on-opposite-sides-of-road/824563.md?page=2)