Driving on the left side of the road

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Dear Cecil,

In your response to why folks in Britain drive on the left side of the road you stated that, ‘In the Middle Ages you kept to the left for the simple reason that you never knew who you’d meet on the road in those days. You wanted to make sure that a stranger passed on the right so you could go for your sword in case he proved unfriendly.’

Pardon my ignorance since I don’t use a sword much these days but wouldn’t it be better to have folks pass on your LEFT side? I assume most folks back then as today were right handed and would use this hand for swordplay and the left hand for holding shield. So wouldn’t they want to keep the stranger on the same side as their shield to allow their right hand to pull out their sword unhindered and slay thy foe?
Anyway you can explain this a bit better for me? Just curious…thanks

Patrick
Issaquah, WA

2

This is actually in response to one of Cecil’s columns: Why do the British drive on the left?

This forum is for the Mailbag, which are not columns by Cecil but simple offerings from his Staff.

Therefore, I have closed this topic and moved it to the forum called COMMENTS ON CECIL’S COLUMNS.