bridge too far Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Watching the TV pictures from Japan, and seeing that they drive on the same side of the road as us, got me thinking. How many other countries drive on the left? Japan, obviously. I guess some of the former colonies. Malta Where else, I wonder.
La BoIS Saint Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic
Lord Duckhunter Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Australia and Ireland do. I remember my old man telling me that in the '50's there was talk of us switching over, but the cost was too much.
La BoIS Saint Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Didn't the Irish have an experiment when only lorries drove on the right?
bridge too far Posted 15 March, 2011 Author Posted 15 March, 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic That's really interesting! I noted that Samoa changed from RHD to LHD about 18 months ago.
EastleighSoulBoy Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Watching the TV pictures from Japan, and seeing that they drive on the same side of the road as us, got me thinking. How many other countries drive on the left? Japan, obviously. I guess some of the former colonies. Malta Where else, I wonder. As a member with strong Maltese connections let me inform you of my many cousin's view on this. "The Maltese drive in the shade" I half expect ColinJB ? to support that view?
suewhistle Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 sweden changed in the 70's if I recall - can't be bothered to google..
swannymere Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 sweden changed in the 70's if I recall - can't be bothered to google.. Early 1960's, you find alot of 'British' early VW Split screen campers actually started life in Sweden!
dubai_phil Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 A great deal of Asia drive on the left Thailand, Malaysia certainly
dubai_phil Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Early 1960's, you find alot of 'British' early VW Split screen campers actually started life in Sweden! An old Brit VW Split Screen Camper Van has been turned into a mobile bar in Sukhumvit So1 7 in Bangkok It parks up outside a hotel every evening and drives home around 3am
The Majestic Channon Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Early 1960's, you find alot of 'British' early VW Split screen campers actually started life in Sweden! Close..1967
suewhistle Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Close..1967 Right. Showing my age as I vaguely remember: had some postage stamps from there as well.
Micky Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Although there aren't many, roads that is, I believe they drive on the left in the Falkland Islands.
Whitey Grandad Posted 15 March, 2011 Posted 15 March, 2011 Although there aren't many, roads that is, I believe they drive on the left in the Falkland Islands. Yes they do, except that the Argies tried to make them change but some locals insisted on staying on the left as a protest. (from the Wiki link above): http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/argentina/hope.htm
hutch Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 Although there aren't many, roads that is, I believe they drive on the left in the Falkland Islands. They do, I've driven on them (with one eye on the minefield map they give you free in Stanley) Also drive on the left from South Africa all the way up the eastern side to the border between Kenya & Ethiopia.
Fowllyd Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 They do in Nepal. Incidentally, the Swedish switch to driving on the right led to a massive (temporary) reduction in crashes, as drivers took greater care because of their uncertainty.
norwaysaint Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 Imagine driving through Sweden at the exact moment they changed from left to right. You'd have to hope everybody's clock was exactly right.
angelman Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 The largest number of people who drive on the left are the Indians. Well that is where they are supposed to drive. Found this bit from wiki interesting: Safety factors Research in 1969 by J. J. Leeming showed countries driving on the left have a lower collision rate than countries driving on the right.[29] It has been suggested this is partly because humans are more commonly right-eye dominant than left-eye dominant.[30][31][32] In left-hand traffic, the predominantly better-performing right eye is used to monitor oncoming traffic and the driver's wing mirror. In right-hand traffic, oncoming traffic and the driver's wing mirror are handled by the predominantly weaker left eye. In addition, it has been argued that left sided driving is safer for elderly people given the likelihood of their having visual attention deficits on the left side and the need at intersections to watch out for vehicles approaching on the near-side lane.[33] Furthermore, in a RHD car with manual transmission, the driver has their right (i.e. in the majority of people, dominant) hand on the steering wheel at all times and uses their left hand to change gear. Cyclists and horse riders typically mount from the left hand side. This places them on the kerb when driving on the left. Of the other most populous countries, apart from Indias 1155m, are Pakistan 169m, Bangladesh 162m and Indonesia 230m. So all in all, I guess about 2 billion drive on the left, give or take.
toofarnorth Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 They do in Nepal. Incidentally, the Swedish switch to driving on the right led to a massive (temporary) reduction in crashes, as drivers took greater care because of their uncertainty. And India. although no-one really follows the rules in either of these countries. Scary stuff!
Sheaf Saint Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 And India. although no-one really follows the rules in either of these countries. Scary stuff! I've heard that in India they have a rule called "might is right" which basically means that whichever vehicle is the bigger has the right of way. Sounds bizarre but apparently it works quite well.
thefunkygibbons Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 Hong Kong Which is fun as you have to change sides crossing the border from China
martyg1950 Posted 16 March, 2011 Posted 16 March, 2011 Didn't the Irish have an experiment when only lorries drove on the right? From recent experience out in the sticks between Dublin and Cork it appeared to me that which side of the road they drove was mostly fairly random
Al de Man Posted 17 March, 2011 Posted 17 March, 2011 Hong Kong Which is fun as you have to change sides crossing the border from China If you're rich enough you just have two cars, one registereded on each side of the border and get a bus between the two. My half brother owns a long-stay carpark on the HK side.
Rattlehead Posted 17 March, 2011 Posted 17 March, 2011 Watching the TV pictures from Japan, and seeing that they drive on the same side of the road as us, got me thinking. How many other countries drive on the left? Good point, I can't believe more people haven't spotted this through the scenes of devastation, "It's a tragedy, for sure, shocking footage, many people dying and huge dangers still to co...wait a minute...if you look through the houses being crushed and floating away, they seem to be driving on the...LEFT...OMG WTF".
bridge too far Posted 17 March, 2011 Author Posted 17 March, 2011 Good point, I can't believe more people haven't spotted this through the scenes of devastation, "It's a tragedy, for sure, shocking footage, many people dying and huge dangers still to co...wait a minute...if you look through the houses being crushed and floating away, they seem to be driving on the...LEFT...OMG WTF". Is your a**e full up yet, what with your head being up it?
Colinjb Posted 17 March, 2011 Posted 17 March, 2011 As a member with strong Maltese connections let me inform you of my many cousin's view on this. "The Maltese drive in the shade" I half expect ColinJB ? to support that view? Yeah, driven out there many times, they drive on the left.
dune Posted 18 March, 2011 Posted 18 March, 2011 Good point, I can't believe more people haven't spotted this through the scenes of devastation, "It's a tragedy, for sure, shocking footage, many people dying and huge dangers still to co...wait a minute...if you look through the houses being crushed and floating away, they seem to be driving on the...LEFT...OMG WTF".
Thedelldays Posted 18 March, 2011 Posted 18 March, 2011 Good point, I can't believe more people haven't spotted this through the scenes of devastation, "It's a tragedy, for sure, shocking footage, many people dying and huge dangers still to co...wait a minute...if you look through the houses being crushed and floating away, they seem to be driving on the...LEFT...OMG WTF".
dickyhale Posted 18 March, 2011 Posted 18 March, 2011 A great deal of Asia drive on the left Thailand, Malaysia certainly Thailand for sure I got lost in Bangkok driving pull up to a policeman and asked him in English for direction to Pattaya and he spoke very good english head towards Bang Na
angelman Posted 22 March, 2011 Posted 22 March, 2011 Basically its the former British Colonies. Not sure Japan was one, nor Indonesia (previously known as the Dutch East Indies) {combined population about 16% higher than USA}
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now