Californian Reacts | Why do the British drive on the left?

"So driving on the left is historically correct, safer and more practical. Glad to have that confirmed." - batman51 (original video commenter).

How did it come to be that the British drive on the left?

#unitedkingdom #british #left

[californianreacts]

Learned a LOT on this one! As it dawns on me how many countries actually drive on the left. Very fascinating and shows that driving on the left has been historically more popular.

Does your country drive on the left? What's it like driving on the other side of the road that you grew up with?

[peterd]

We British and billions of other people drive on the left because it is the right thing to do. It is not our fault many people around the world get it wrong. The stupidity of others is not a good reason to go with their madness.

[crowbar]

Countries driving on the left (source; ComparetheMarket Insurance) :
Channel Islands (including Jersey and Guernsey
Cyprus
Ireland
Isle of Man
Malta
Asia
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
East Timor
Hong Kong
Indonesia
India
Japan
Macao
Malaysia
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Oceania
Australia
Christmas Island
Cocos Island
Cook Islands
Fiji
Kiribati
Nauru
New Zealand
Niue
Norfolk Island
Papua New Guinea
Pitcairn Islands
Solomon Islands
Samoa
Tokelau
Tonga
Tuvalu
Africa
Botswana
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Seychelles
South Africa
St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Swaziland
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
The Americas
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Falkland Islands
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
Montserrat
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
US Virgin Islands

[DeadlyDan]

It's also important to note driving on the left is statistically safer. Due to right-hand dominance research has shown people react faster and are more likely to see and avoid an accident if driving on the left side of the road.

[charlesunderwood]

Cavalry horses are always trained to pass on the left so the rider can use their sword in the right hand. As road systems developed in Britain (the second time- the Romans did it before) the army was one of the main users and so their riding etiquette was adopted. As Napoleon was left handed, he had French roads, and those of the countries he invaded (essentially all of Europe) ride on the right. With the invention of cars, driving on the left allowed the (generally stronger) right hand to remain steaming during gear change.

[kwlkid]

The UK has one of the highest proportion of manual cars in the world, there's many reasons for this including licensing requiring a test in a manual to drive manual cars but also sitting on the right allows us to keep our dominant right hand on the wheel while changing gears.

[alanmusicman]

I've hosted a lot of Americans to the UK and almost all of them said that after a half hour or so of driving they had got used to driving on the left. Of course most of them were in right hand drive rental cars which made it easier I think. The thing that gave a fair few of them problems was using a manual gearbox and a clutch - cos relatively few cars in the UK are automatics - far more than used to be, but still very much a small minority.

[HootMaRoot]

Japan/Australia/UK and many African countries drive on the left

[bandycoot]

Ireland, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, US Virgin Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Bahamas, Singapore plus many more drives on the left.

[richardgreenwood]

UK drivers are quite used to holidaying in Europe and therefore driving on the right sometimes. I guess if you've only ever driven in the Americas it's a big change.
Also, anyone in the UK who has had a boating (river or canal) holiday will have coped with passing on the right. It's really not such a big deal.

[nicksykes]

Germany invented the car, so we can't take credit for that one. As for your question, I've driven right-hand drive trucks in mainland Europe, and left-hand drive trucks in the UK. of the two, I much prefer the first option. That's down to the fact that I hate using my right hand to change gear. But as most European trucks are automatic now, it's less of an issue.

[cpmahon]

In the UK if there is there is a double track, even the trains travel on the left with very few exceptions.

[mrsiborg]

It might seem confusing at first to drive on the other side of the road but people generally get used to it quite quickly. What is harder to get used to is looking the correct way when crossing the road as a pedestrian.

[karenstrong]

Australia drives on the left. My husband never had a problem driving in America or Canada. It is the same if the steering wheel is switched.

[reggriffiths]

It's not only logical and practical, for the most basic reason that the majority of people are right-handed. The narrator hinted at the practice "possibly" going back further, when in fact, since the time when men fought each other with swords thousands of years ago, the weapon was always drawn from the left ready for action by the right - it can't be done the other way round!. Walking the streets, men always kept to left in order to face potential foes coming the opposite way. By the same token, when accompanied by a lady, she was always kept to the gentleman's left for her protection from traffic (horses, carts, riders etc) from the rear as well as essentially out of harm's way if the gent had to face an attacker. It really does not work any other way!
Today, most men who truly understand the history and purpose, will still keep his female companion/s to his left, especially with today's traffic, even though we no longer carry arms. Sadly, those who are under about 50 years old don't know these old traditions.
The old Westernern Americans who originally hailed from the UK and Europe, knew this practice, and even though the films don't always get it right, the cowboys mostly had their pistols on the RIGHT (because a pistol is short and can be drawn quicker than a sword), but they, too, would normally have ridden to left so as not to shoot his horse in the head!!
Wagons and carts have traditionally had the driver on the right, holding the reins with the left for all the same reasons, hence the phrase "to rein in" meant pulling off to the left, while "Whip hand" meant using the right hand.
Strange as it may seem, even the most prolific Asian car makers - the Japanese - drive on the left, as is the practice in South Africa, New Zealand, most of India, and many of the Carribean countries of former (and current) British Colonies and Protectorates. Why Henry Ford chose to be different makes vary little sound sense or logicality. Perhaps he didn't know or understand the history.
If you go to the majority of Castles in the the entire UK, you will see spiral stairways (called Newell Stairs) that go up in a clockwise direction. The reasoning goes back to the limitations imposed on an enemy going up, for he has to use his right hand to fight off the defenders, and you can't see, never mind fight a defender when you have to keep bearing round a narroow right-handed central stem! The defender, by contrast has complete freedom to swing his sword and thrust quite freely.
So the narrator, while generally correct, has not researched the subject fully, or he would have known all of this.
Hope it broadens your knowledge.

[whitedrguy]

Motorcycles are designed to be ridden on the left due to the fact that the side stand or kick stand is on the left.

When you park a motorcycle and you put the stand down it leans to the left so two things happen, one you tend to dismount from the left and 2, because of the camber of the road the bike will lean over further, away from traffic.

If you park on the right you dismount into traffic and the motorcycle will stand up straighter due to the camber being opposite, so to get the bike sitting safer on the stand when on the right you basically have to have it parked facing traffic.

[peterbrown]

A lot of European countries that drive on the left were forced to do so by Napoleon when he conquered their countries.
When the channel Isles were invaded by Germany they were forced to drive on the right but returned to the left after the war.
When Japan was occupied after the war, America forced them to drive on the right but returned to the left.

[RabmacUK]

There were no such times in the UK as 'Mid Evil' it was 'Medi-eval' so why Americans get it so wrong is a mystery to me.
As to driving on the left, a simple search will tell you that : This 'rule of the road' was officially sanctioned in 1300 AD when Pope Boniface VIII declared that all pilgrims travelling to Rome should keep to the left. This continued until the late 1700s. Henry Ford thought that driving on the Right made it easier for passengers to exit onto the is utter nonsense, a driver on the the Right side of a car, driving on the left side of the road can claim exactly the same. Americans are just Contrary for the sake of Republicanism.

[philipmccarthy]

India, 1.5 billion people, drive on the left . Japan, drive on the left . Australia & New Zealand , drive on the left. Many African countries drive on the left. In fact France & Germany used to drive on the left too.

[Phil_A_O_Fish]

Only in those 78 countries that you mentioned could it be considered that left is right and right is wrong when it comes to driving, couldn't it? ✌🤣✌

By the way I already knew about the historical reason for us Brits riding and driving on the left-hand side of the road when it came to knights and others being able to access their swords if they were attacked or ambushed.