# Why do some countries drive on the right and some on the left? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-right-and-some-on-the-left/381573 "2006-11-23T19:16:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-right-and-some-on-the-left/381573/41 "2006-11-25T23:52:36Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Weren’t swords a fairly expensive item? Certainly to the point that they wouldn’t be a normal item to be carrying around in everyday situations. [/QUOTE] You’re probably right there. Well substitute with fists, cudgels, lumps of whatever. On the other hand, I’d say the travellers were more likely to have money than those who never ventured beyond their village… ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-right-and-some-on-the-left/381573/42 "2006-11-25T23:56:10Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > The longer answer is that while it’s true they weren’t “wandering around with swords all the time”, it’s also true that they weren’t doing much wandering around at all. Most people tended not to travel outside of their immediate village and surrounds. For those who did need to, however, I can imagine a sword being an essential piece of kit, much as we’d think of a seatbelt, and you’d probably have drifted towards the left of the road upon sighting a stranger approaching, without even really thinking of it. More plausible to me is that passing on a particular side was arbitrarily decreed on occasion by local authorities, perhaps if they were operating a busy customs point, and from there became common practice. In Britain, that happened to mean passing on the left. No swords or swashbuckling required. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-right-and-some-on-the-left/381573/43 "2006-11-25T23:58:30Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] You’re probably right there. Well substitute with fists, cudgels, lumps of whatever. On the other hand, I’d say the travellers were more likely to have money than those who never ventured beyond their village… [/QUOTE] Anything other than trained swordsmanship, and you’ve probably not got any left-right advantage, especially if you don’t know what your opponent has. And yes, most people stayed put, but hardship as well as affluence would cause people to travel - failed harvests, plagues and illness, war & conflict, etc. All could cause people to leave their homes and hit the road. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-right-and-some-on-the-left/381573/44 "2006-11-26T05:42:01Z")
After Napoleon had conquered the continent of Europe he decided to standardise the law in the lands under his rule by implementing the “Napoleonic code”,he decreed that all traffic would use the right hand side of the road to facilitate military convoys . I believe it was something to do with making things easier for wagon drivers but I’m not sure . In Britain using the left hand side of the road was implemented to allow horse riders to draw their swords easily if attacked by the numerous highwaymen/womenaround at that time,also "road rage "was quite common in those days and fights between impatient travellers was a regular occurrence, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was partially based on a desire to “cock a snook” at the French.(Before you ask its similar to “giving someone the finger”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-right-and-some-on-the-left/381573.md?page=2)