Santa:
I am saying it’s nothing to do with “dodging to the left” it’s all about keeping your sword arm handy (if you are right handed).
I have absolutely no clue why we drive on the left but posts above me were saying it would cost trillions to change it and I posted that I read somewhere that we are correct because we dodge to the left.
I wont shout in big bold letters but er… did you read the thread.
IIRC there is also a ‘technical’ reason why it is safer to drive on the left as opposed to the right and it concerns the gyroscopic effect of the flywheel in a conventionally aligned/rotating engine.
For those who are much harassed parents, you can try this one at home. Remember those gyroscopes that were popular with kids aeon’s ago. 
The ones in a circular frame where you spun them up by pulling a length of string.
When you’ve dug it out from some long forgotten cobwebbed location, 
spin it up and hold it in front of you so that it is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. Now, if you try to turn it to the left, it will seek to move downwards. Conversely, if you turn it to the right, it will want to move up.
Transferring this effect to the motion of a vehicle, particularly earlier type vehicles where the flywheel forms a greater mass that they do nowadays, steering to the left would actually assist front tyre adhesion (due to the gyroscopic effect) whereas steering to the right would do the opposite.
Thereby, in an ‘oops’ moment, steering the left is more responsive than steering to the right.
Hence WE got it correct and all the others got it wrong. 
dont laugh …
but remember reading years ago that the reason the yanks drive on the other side is because of a little incident called the Boston Tea Party …
think it was the import / export the uk imposed on tea coming into the Us.
they protested about it someway or other and then they decided as a protest to drive on the other side of the road… and then rench frogs followed suit…
i really should google it but cant be bothered … if i am wrong then at least i would have made u lot smile tonight …
Could somene design/develop and construct trucks and cars where the driver can slide the seat and steering to the left or right,so it is not in a fixed position,depending which country you are driving in.
Krankee:
… spin it up and hold it in front of you so that it is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. Now, if you try to turn it to the left, it will seek to move downwards. Conversely, if you turn it to the right, it will want to move up.
And if you do this south of the equator the opposite will apply.
Hence you should have a North/ South split in the rhd/ lhd thing!
Stan
Okay then, here’s a teaser for you.
In the UK, railways like roads follow the convention of driving “on the left” in normal running. Yet the driver’s seat is almost exclusively (with the exception of Great Western steam engines) on the left.
Why?
toby1234abc:
Could somene design/develop and construct trucks and cars where the driver can slide the seat and steering to the left or right,so it is not in a fixed position,depending which country you are driving in.
That has been an option on Unimogs for years
toby1234abc:
Could somene design/develop and construct trucks and cars where the driver can slide the seat and steering to the left or right,so it is not in a fixed position,depending which country you are driving in.
Ever driven a road sweeper■■? They nhave them on both sides…at least they used too 
RIPPER:
toby1234abc:
Could somene design/develop and construct trucks and cars where the driver can slide the seat and steering to the left or right,so it is not in a fixed position,depending which country you are driving in.Ever driven a road sweeper■■? They nhave them on both sides…at least they used too
When my old Mum was alive, the old man’s car had a driver in the back seat! 
As no one has posted anything that explains the reason for LHD and RHD. I will point you towards religion. A couple of members have tried copy and paste from Google, which proves nothing
The reason is that a Gentleman would walk towards oncoming traffic, namely Horse and Carts or Donkeys. He would have his wife on his right arm and protect her, although he may have pushed her into the dyke or privet hedge if an equine came close.
When they invented swords, the wife was pushed into the hedge while the gallant Gent would fight the footpads with his right arm.
I believe the reason for the marauding invaders driving on the left stemmed from this, while the other religions convinced the rest of the world that the wife was safer walking 4 paces behind with a dust cover on her head 
That was interesting article. I can add an interesting fact to it.
In 1918, when Poland gained it’s indenpendence after 123 years under German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian occupation, it was a problem, as in Germany and Russia there was Right-side driving, while in Austro-Hungarian empire, everybody were driving on the left. That was ruled, that right side of the road will be in use, but it was a problem for a tramway networks, as there was some time needed to adapt them.
That caused the silly situation, that in Kraków cars were driving on the right side of the road, while Tramways were going opposite way until 1925…
gnasty gnome:
Okay then, here’s a teaser for you.In the UK, railways like roads follow the convention of driving “on the left” in normal running. Yet the driver’s seat is almost exclusively (with the exception of Great Western steam engines) on the left.
Why?
For few reasons:
The signals are on the left side of the track. So when on the steam engines the driver would not be able to see forward, he had to lean out the window to check the signals. That’s why he had to be on the left.
In modern trains, driver has to check his mirror for passengers, who are boarding in most cases from the left.
Also on two-track line it’s safer to sit on the outside in case that the other train will derail.
I know that from my high school, as I am a railway technician, in Poland it’s pretty much the same (i mean, symetric - train drivers are sitting on the right).
orys:
That was interesting article. I can add an interesting fact to it.In 1918, when Poland gained it’s indenpendence after 123 years under German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian occupation, it was a problem, as in Germany and Russia there was Right-side driving, while in Austro-Hungarian empire, everybody were driving on the left. That was ruled, that right side of the road will be in use, but it was a problem for a tramway networks, as there was some time needed to adapt them.
That caused the silly situation, that in Kraków cars were driving on the right side of the road, while Tramways were going opposite way until 1925…
In CzÄ™stochowa you seem to be able to drive on whatever side of the road you want, sometimes you have to give way to traffic coming out of side roads and we have one roundabout were traffic already on the roundabout has to give way, won’t make that mistake again in a hurry. I prefer LHD when in the UK, you can just open the door straight into a Fish and Chip shop without that tedious wait for a mother to pass in a 4x4.
Stanley Knife:
Krankee:
… spin it up and hold it in front of you so that it is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. Now, if you try to turn it to the left, it will seek to move downwards. Conversely, if you turn it to the right, it will want to move up.And if you do this south of the equator the opposite will apply.
Hence you should have a North/ South split in the rhd/ lhd thing!Stan
Err. Close. But I think you are confusing it with the rotation of how water goes down a plughole. Different disciplines within Physics. Dynamics v Hydraulics.
aranger:
Read something about this somewhere and its to do with the human brain automatically makes you dodge to the left to avoid a hazard, so we drive on the correct side as we dont swerve into oncoming traffic when trying to avoid an accident.Think its different for left handed people though.
This may be a load of garbage as I am not keen to get someone to throw a rock at me to find out.
Somebody give it a go and post back.
As a left ■■■■■■ I can assure that it makes no difference whatsoever…Ive crashed into any number of ditches like any right hander!!!
orys:
gnasty gnome:
Okay then, here’s a teaser for you.In the UK, railways like roads follow the convention of driving “on the left” in normal running. Yet the driver’s seat is almost exclusively (with the exception of Great Western steam engines) on the left.
Why?
For few reasons:
The signals are on the left side of the track. So when on the steam engines the driver would not be able to see forward, he had to lean out the window to check the signals. That’s why he had to be on the left.
In modern trains, driver has to check his mirror for passengers, who are boarding in most cases from the left.
Also on two-track line it’s safer to sit on the outside in case that the other train will derail.
I know that from my high school, as I am a railway technician, in Poland it’s pretty much the same (i mean, symetric - train drivers are sitting on the right).
Give the man a cigar! 
Dont ships/boats drive on the right /starboard ?
In the early years of English colonisation of North America, English driving customs were followed and the colonies drove on the left. After gaining independence from England, however, they were anxious to cast off all remaining links with their British colonial past and gradually changed to right-hand driving. (Incidentally, the influence of other European countries’ nationals should not be underestimated.) The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, and similar laws were passed in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813.
Despite the developments in the US, some parts of Canada continued to drive on the left until shortly after the Second World War. The territory controlled by the French (from Quebec to Louisiana) drove on the right, but the territory occupied by the English (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) kept left. British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces switched to the right in the 1920s in order to conform with the rest of Canada and the USA. Newfoundland drove on the left until 1947, and joined Canada in 1949.
When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered that the traffic should change from the left to the right side of the road, overnight. The change threw the driving public into turmoil, because motorists were unable to see most road signs. In Vienna it proved impossible to change the trams overnight, so while all other traffic took to the right-hand side of the road, the trams continued to run on the left for several weeks. Czechoslovakia and Hungary, one of the last states on the mainland of Europe to keep left, changed to the right after being invaded by Germany in 1939.
Gibraltar changed to right-hand traffic in 1929 and China in 1946. Korea now drives right, but only because it passed directly from Japanese colonial rule to American and Russian influence at the end of the Second World War. Pakistan also considered changing to the right in the 1960s, but ultimately decided not to do it. The main argument against the shift was that camel trains often drove through the night while their drivers were dozing. The difficulty in teaching old camels new tricks was decisive in forcing Pakistan to reject the change. Nigeria, a former British colony, had traditionally been driving on the left with British imported right-hand-drive cars, but when it gained independence, it tried to throw off its colonial past as quick as possible and shifted to driving on the right.
After the Second World War, left-driving Sweden, the odd one out in mainland Europe, felt increasing pressure to change sides in order to conform with the rest of the continent. The problem was that all their neighbours already drove on the right side and since there are a lot of small roads without border guards leading into Norway and Finland, one had to remember in which country one was.
In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum on the introduction of right-hand driving. Although no less than 82.9% voted “no” to the plebiscite, the Swedish parliament passed a law on the conversion to right-hand driving in 1963. Finally, the change took place on Sunday, the 3rd of September 1967, at 5 o’clock in the morning.
All traffic with private motor-driven vehicles was prohibited four hours before and one hour after the conversion, in order to be able to rearrange all traffic signs. Even the army was called in to help. Also a very low speed limit was applied, which was raised in a number of steps. The whole process took about a month. After Sweden’s successful changeover, Iceland changed the following year, in 1968.
In the 1960s, Great Britain also considered changing, but the country’s conservative powers did everything they could to nip the proposal in the bud. Furthermore, the fact that it would cost billions of pounds to change everything round wasn’t much of an incentive… Eventually, Britain dropped the idea. Today, only four European countries still drive on the left: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta.