# Do people walk to the left in other countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339 "2012-03-31T00:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/21 "2012-04-02T15:53:04Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > In the UK we tend to pass on the left, but stand on the right on an escalator, leaving the left ‘lane’ free for people walking up/down it. In Washington, DC, local etiquette demands that people riding the escalators at Metro (subway) stations stand only on the right side. The left side is reserved for people walking. Violating this rule instantly brands you as a tourist or other outsider. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/22 "2012-04-02T16:02:47Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I don’t think there’s any convention here for walking on left/right, it’s just a freeforall methinks. I’m aware of the London Underground rule but I’m not sure if such rules exist for escalators here. Sure 'tis far from escalators you were raised. Anyway it’s well known that the only escalators in Ireland are the ones in the Stephen’s Green Centre, that the culchies make special trips up just to gawp at - but they’re too narrow for even a single fat person to ride on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/23 "2012-04-02T16:48:56Z")
We (Irish) drive on the left, but walking is a free-for-all, there are no rules. Having said that, people around here drive as though there were no rules of the road. _Why should I indicate I was going to turn, sure I’ve lived down this road all my life, didn’t you know I was going to turn?_ sort of thing, mixed with a bit of _I’m driving a BMW you will get out of my way peasant_ bullying. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/24 "2012-04-02T16:52:47Z")
In Japan, people walk on the left side. It’s claimed that this custom was started because of how samurais would wear their swords. I have no idea if that is an urban legand or not, but people do walk on the left. However, people in Tokyo and areas east stand on the left side of escalators and walk on the right, and this is reversed in Osaka and lands west. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/25 "2012-04-02T21:59:10Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Sure 'tis far from escalators you were raised. > > Anyway it’s well known that the only escalators in Ireland are the ones in the Stephen’s Green Centre, that the culchies make special trips up just to gawp at - but they’re too narrow for even a single fat person to ride on their own. No they’re not. I can prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/26 "2012-04-02T22:38:22Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > When I read this, I realized I always just assumed [revolving doors] simply wouldn’t spin in the wrong direction. I’ve never seen anyone go the opposite direction in one, and I’ve never tried, myself. They do… but you really have to put some effort into pushing them that way. 🙂 I say this from the experience of an NZ-er entering a US hotel for the first time… and being both surprised by the difficulty of operating the revolving door and the perplexed expression of the concierge. Second and subsequent operations proved much smoother. And, **Colibri** , upside down light-switches in the US I coped with easily enough… but the weird lamp ones that you rotate to operate… very odd. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/27 "2012-04-02T22:46:42Z")
Here in South Korea, the government is fighting (yet another) losing battle on this subject. Just a couple of years ago, the government decided that it would be “more Korean” (read: not like the Japanese) to walk on the right. That applies only to walking on paved sidewalks, of which there are precious few even in major cities, and in subway stations, schools, and other indoor places. On roadsides that are not paved sidewalks, the government-touted method is to walk facing traffic; in other words, continue walking on the left. As I said, it’s a losing battle. The most visible effect of this particular battle is that there are signs plastered everywhere in Korean and English, directing people to walk on the right. The most likely outcome of this is that some poor kid’s going to get run down by a car. As long as that car is driven by a Korean, there will not be any riots. Yes, I’m a bit jaded on traffic issues, especially pedestrian traffic issues, here. The general populace, though, is continuing to walk on the left, just like the Japanese trained their grandparents and great-grandparents. ETA: The newest twist on this losing battle is the campaign to no longer have a “passing lane” on escalators. That campaign has also entered the realm of white noise. People continue to pass on the left on the escalators. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/28 "2012-04-02T22:53:34Z")
There’s no convention about which side you walk on in London. I’ve never noticed either one being more predominant. Someone mentioned standing to the right and passing on the left on escalators in London tube stations though, and that really is a big thing. Someone standing on the left on a busy escalator (or even worse, two people standing next to each other) is an instant giveaway they’re not local. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/29 "2012-04-02T23:37:31Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > So, do the foreign weirdos go through a revolving door on the left too? Every once in a while i see someone do that, and wonder if they are just being deliberately contrary, or just don’t know any better. I just realised that I automatically would assume a revolving door goes clockwise. The last one I used was on a cruise ship last year. As the passengers were predominantly NZers and Australians, I don’t think anyone that I saw tried to make the doors turn any other way. The push bars on the doors were set to make the natural direction clockwise, and the ship was a UK registered one but constructed in France in 1987. It was refitted in Belfast in 1997. Here are some [images of doors in NZ](http://www.advantagedoors.co.nz/whatwecover.html). Notice the direction people are walking. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/30 "2012-04-02T23:53:12Z")
It was explained to me by the font of all knowledge (my dad) that it’s all about safety. We walk in the same left/right pattern as traffic so that whoever is walking closest, is facing oncoming cars. Walker ----\> Walker \<---- * * * Car ----\> Car \<---- * * * Walker -----\> Walker \<----- Reverse all the arrows for right handed driving. I never thought about the revolving door issue, but yeah, clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/31 "2012-04-03T00:43:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > When I moved to New Zealand (which like the UK drives on the left) from the US, I found walking on the left to be common. When I tried walking on the right on sidewalks, I always found myself bucking traffic. I eventually started walking on the left as well. > > Among other NZ things to get used to was that the light switches were upside down (on is down rather than up in the US) and the rotary phone dials (this was the 1980s) were also in reverse. When I read this I checked quick to see if the posting date was 1-April (you know…) but no it’s 30-March. I thought it was going to be followed up with “And water goes down the drain the other way too.” ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/32 "2012-04-03T09:10:18Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > However, people in Tokyo and areas east stand on the left side of escalators and walk on the right… Which makes Japanese tourists a major pain in the behind in escalators. Why can’t people take notice of how the locals behave and act accordingly? Otherwise, what **maggenpye** wrote with the addition: when walking along a road with no pavements you walk on the right side if the cars drive on the left and vice versa if the cars drive on the right (correct ;)) side in order to face to oncoming traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/33 "2012-04-03T12:36:00Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Anyway it’s well known that the only escalators in Ireland are the ones in the Stephen’s Green Centre, that the culchies make special trips up just to gawp at - but they’re too narrow for even a single fat person to ride on their own. jk amirite? There are escalators in several places in Cork for us culchies to be not only gawping at, but stepping onto ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/34 "2012-04-03T18:35:43Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > jk amirite? > > There are escalators in several places in Cork for us culchies to be not only gawping at, but stepping onto Yeah jjimm lived here for years, and while here he did an audit of escalators throughout the island. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/35 "2012-04-03T19:02:05Z")
Living in a right-side driving country, it seems to me that people in corridors, concourses, station platforms, and so on generally do walk on the right. The only major exception I can think of is walking on the left side of the road in the absence of sidewalks–the better for you and oncoming drivers to see each other. That we have such roads tends to shock some European visitors, but usually it’s understandable given the modest volume of traffic usually found on such roads. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/36 "2012-04-03T19:11:05Z")
This question cropped up on the SD about 10 years ago. I remember at the time doing a little experiment from my desk overlooking a busy London street. I observed all pedestrians for a period of about 20 mins (slow day) and I could discern no pattern to which side pedestrians passed each other. I humbly suggest that those who do discern a convention are creating a bias by their own actions. The only convention I consciously follow is to pass parents with children on the outside, so they can keep them away from traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/37 "2012-04-05T12:42:43Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Yeah jjimm lived here for years, and while here he did an audit of escalators throughout the island. Ah, and he never came outside The Pale, did he? 😉 I’ve been paying more attention than is really necessary, but the free-for-all attitude is definitely applying in town here, the pavement is only wide enough for two people, and I lost count of the number of times I had to step onto the road to avoid a couple walking towards me who didn’t seem to realise they were taking up the whole place. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/38 "2012-04-05T14:46:20Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > There’s no convention about which side you walk on in London. I’ve never noticed either one being more predominant. Someone mentioned standing to the right and passing on the left on escalators in London tube stations though, and that really is a big thing. Someone standing on the left on a busy escalator (or even worse, two people standing next to each other) is an instant giveaway they’re not local. Yeah, Londoners don’t walk on any one side for preference. However, if you’re going to stop and read a map or have a chat or make a phone call, it’s imperative to follow the tourist custom and do it right in the middle of the fucking Tube entrance. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/39 "2012-04-06T02:31:25Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Yeah jjimm lived here for years, and while here he did an audit of escalators throughout the island. Indeed, and with the mods’ permission I will link to my coffee-table book on Amazon, _The Escalator of Ireland_, with four entire pages of full-colour photographs. **corcaigh** don’t bullshit me - everyone knows that outside the Pale you don’t even have _stairs_. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339/40 "2012-04-07T10:40:23Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Indeed, and with the mods’ permission I will link to my coffee-table book on Amazon, _The Escalator of Ireland_, with four entire pages of full-colour photographs. I’ve ordered 3 copies, will you sign one of them for me, please? Make it out to “eBay” 😉 > [@](#): > > **corcaigh** don’t bullshit me - everyone knows that outside the Pale you don’t even have _stairs_. And why would we be wanting stairs in a bog? Jaysus the pigs wouldn’t make any use of them! 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-walk-to-the-left-in-other-countries/617339.md?page=3)