Driving on the left

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Original article

Many people ask why we drive on the left, as if we are the only ones doing it, but there are many countries that drive on the left.

Being an Island, there is little reason to change, though the question arises every few years. All main roads are now built with symmetrical junctions, so they can be changed to driving on the right.

The cost of changing is prohibative. Think of all the road signs, road markings, rebuilding of many roads. Traffic lights and all the cars that have the steering on wrong side.

Safety is also an issue: it has been said that when British people drive on the continent, most accidents happen within the first 5 miles, because we simply forget which side to drive on. Imagine one morning we all wake up and have to drive on the ‘wrong side’, how many people would forget?

According to
http://www.2pass.co.uk/goodluck.htm
these countries drive on the left:

Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Bermuda
Bhutan
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Cayman Islands
Channel Islands
Cyprus
Dominica
Eire-Ireland
England
Falkland Islands
Fiji
Grenada
Guyana
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Isle of Man
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Lesotho
Macau
Malawi
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Montserrat
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Seychelles
Scotland
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St Kitts & Nevis
St. Helena
St. Lucia
Surinam
Swaziland
Tanzania
Thailand
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uganda
US Virgin Islands
Zambia
Zimbabwe
St. Vincent & Grenadines

2

Iceland changed from the right to left in 1907, so that legs of horse-riding women would not be exposed to other people on the road–women, of course, riding …thingamaboby… with both legs on the left side of the horse. We planned to change to the right side in 1941 but put it on hold out of consideration for the British army; we eventually switched back to the right side in 1968, without accidents, mind you.

I’ve seen a lot of British people driving here without any trouble and I can’t imagine how they do it; I, for one, am never risking driving on the left. I’ve sat in a “lefty” car once and it felt all sorts of wrong… like walking on the ceiling or breathing fluid. I guess.

3

I have driven in the US many times, and it is always the first few miles that are confusing (and driving automatics, which are not very common in the UK). It is the cross roads and T junctions that confuse me. Never had an accident yet!

4

After a quick scan of the list, a question comes to mind. Were all or most of the places listed once under British rule or influence?

5

Mostly, with some exceptions.

Japan and Thailand were never colonized by European powers, nor were they under the particular influence of any one of them. Nepal kept its independence but was under British influence.

Indonensia and Suriname were Dutch colonies.

Macau and Mozambique were Portuguese colonies.

Namibia and part of Tanzania were German possessions before WWI. After the war, Namibia became a protectorate of South Africa and Tanzania became a protectorate of the U.K.

US Virgin Islands were a Danish possession before WWI and U.S. afterward.