Roadways, Left or Right

Is that a problem in your area?

And are you aproching from his left or your left?

What if one of you is left handed and the other right handed?

What if one of you is left handed and the other right handed?

In medieval and earlier times this question didn't arise since you were only allowed to fight with your right hand. Persistant offenders had their left hands removed.

This was true in most societies where ranks of sword-carrying soldiers formed a large part of the army, since having the odd south paw in the ranks meant it got awkward for those either side of him - and also there was a safe hole in the ranks where the opposition could attack. part of the strength on a line of sword (od spear) men is that each covers the undefended side of the man to his right.

As to why the French drive on the wrong side - I heard that was because Napolean was lefthanded and made everyone march on the other side so his lefthand was towards the enemy, and thus he had an advantage.

The other interesting effect of right hand dominance and sword carrying are spiral staircases. There are "warlike" and "peaceful" cases. The warlike one turn so that anyone coming down (defender) leads with their right hand (i.e. to the outer wall) whilst the attacker has his confined against the central column. The peaceful ones, often found in later period churches, turn the other way.

There are similar rules at sea - I think you always past red-to-red, i.e port to port - so the approaching ship should always pass down the left hand side of your boat. Unless you're fighting him of course, then anything goes!

Of course it's all the other way round in the souther hemisphere.
Now the other day I was idly gazing into the pod watching the waterboatmen...now their world is totally upside down...they go for a quick scull beneath the surface, and then fall back up to the top surface of the pond to rest (belly up), with just a bit of their backside breaking the suface tension to get air...most amusing when juxtaposed to the pondskaters on the top suface.
Del

This makes sense for me same as it is bad manners to put one hand under the table at dinner. Prior to the days of forks and spoons people ate with knives, and a hand under the table with a knife in it was threatning.

Railway track guage was established by the ruts of Roman Chariots in Europe as well.

Most planes I've flown had dual controls. The reasons for this redundancy are clear since sometimes the Captain dies at the controls, and the co-pilot has to take over. A scholar whose opinion I would like to know on this subject is Henry Petroski, who wrote The Evolution of Necessary Things. He also wrote Pushing the Limits, and most any engineer will love his books.

<...Railway track guage was established by the ruts of Roman Chariots in Europe as well....>

....which is derived from the distance between a pair of horses' anuses as they headed the chariot, reputedly.

I'm constantly amazed at what I learn on here!

Interesting how medieval still has its effects today...such as saluting,

When we were showing horses in western pleasure, there is a proper way and side of mounting and dismounting the horse.

It originally had to do with your sword on your side, and was carried through...less sword most of the times.

phoenix911

Only if youre right handed,,

I heard a rumor that the Brits are going to switch over to driving on the right hand side of the road. However, to reduce confusion they are not going to do it all at once. The cars will switch first, followed a month later by the lorries.

All the road signs etc would also need to be changed. Traffic lights too! I don't think it will happen just because of the size of the task. And unless the government is prepared to buy us all new left hand drive cars, or get them changed I think there will be a big problem

That rumour originated in the Republic of Ireland, actually....

However, to reduce confusion they are not going to do it all at once

To reduce the confusion or to increase?

This may happen in Briton, as they have to follow US! Or may be to give the boost to US auto industry!

The US auto industry produces vehicles that are too long and too wide for some of the UK's road network. The current trend is therefore to go upwards, with skyscrapers for vehicles, just like US city buildings.

No, not us British (we're not "Brits"). That was the Irish.

In fact, options to change to driving on the right were in place up to the early 1970s. Spagetti Junction, a motorway interchange just outside Brimingham was built so that it could be used either way round. It was the last interchange to be so built. The first motorway interchange in Britain is the Almondsbury Interchange (M4 and M5) outside Bristol. It is a symetrical four lobed shape and so would work either way.

The decision was taken, presumably because car ownership had dramically increased, to stick with driving on the left.

I presume the traitorous colonists chose to crive on the right to be like their French friends and unlike their erstwhile rulers

Lets face it, the reason why Americans drive on the RHS of the road is.............

They are Americans, and they have to be different.........afterall they have there own screw threads, their gallons are different (mind you every one else is metric), their channel markers are different, not to mention spelling and pronunciation, etc., etc., etc.

Not certain of this, but I remember hearing more than once...

As the new Republic of America was formed, the people had an intense dislike of the British Crown. As a result, All Things British were undone to the largest extent possible. One of the first issues was Horse Racing; the British raced horses in a CLOCKWISE direction around the track. This is the reason that, in America, we race horses, dogs, cars COUNTERCLOCKWISE to this day. The driving of carts and wagons to the right was also attributed to this dislike of All Things British.

As an aside, the Romans elbowed the Phoenecians, Greeks, and others from England in their desire for her Tin, the metal found above ground easily (due to parts of England escaping glaciation). This metal is necessary for the manufacture of Bronze.

^{Geez, I hope all this baloney is right!}

The bit about the Romans certainly is...and add in Gold, Silver, Lead and coal....

You American should be great people. You started from disliking British methods and now British (Government) has started liking every thing and anything of Americans!

While this maybe true..............the mindset about being different hasn't really changed...........or..........if things don't alter, they will remain the same.

This metal is necessary for the manufacture of Bronze.

Too true, my friend, you do not have to convince me of that, I have spent most of my life in the marine field..........from the simplicity of naval brass and gun metal to the phosphor bronzes, aluminium (NOT aluminum......sorry couldn't resist that one) and magnesium bronzes...........certainly beats the hell out of the 316 stainless steels..........if you need high strength, go to the super alloys...........may be more expensive but worth it in the long run

I think I drove around the motor interchange outside Bristol. Is it called the "Magic Roundabout"? I just followed the vehicle in front of me and prayed he was trying to get to the same place I was. Without special advanced training, that roundabout is unnavigatable.

They're spreading. There's one in Hemel Hempstead, one in Colchester, and a third one at Sadlers Farm, not far from Canvey Island. There's no truth in the rumour that a further 197 are to be built in Chelmsford due to an administrative error _{(with apologies to the late Ronnie Barker)}.

No. The Almondsbury Interchange at Bristol is easy.

The "Magic Roundabout", where on some roundabouts you go anti-clockwise (see the Americans can't even bring themselves to use the same word!) is at Swindon.

I think in some areas people are already practicing for this.

The Bell Common Tunnel roadworks on the M25 are soooooo confusing.

I'm guessing the rumour is just a joke, not an actual rumour. Nowhere would cars be allowed to go in the opposite lane against trucks (lorries).

This is the correct answer and deserves more points than the 'sword hand'....

Until Napoleon who was left handed made his army march on the right. And thus Europe drives on the right while the UK on the left.

And then there is also the MPH/KPH... Most of Europe is KPH but the UK is MPH. Also, most of Europe drives on the right, except Cyprus.

In Ireland, understandably, the distances are in kilometres and the speeds in miles per hour. It must be some sort of conspiracy....

Incorrect - distances in Ireland are in km and speeds are in km/hr. The North still uses the imperial system but that is as a result of 800 years of oppression in Ireland by the English.

All this change - it's time someone noted it. Thanks!

Bizarrely, the British are prouder of their Roman ancestry than the Italians are....

....mile = mille = 1000 = number of strides in the unit invented by Roman Legionnaires to measure the distance marched.....

I wondered why myself.

There's a boat load if info here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic

That is a good source of information. It answers many questions, like why noblemen utilized LH swordsmen to combat RH invaders. It doesn't seem to completely answer why one side was adopted over the other, except for the example of the Roman wagon wheel ruts in the roadway. It seems that the hand of roadways was an arbitrary decision made in support of customary practices.

When attacking from horseback a right handed person do better when taking the right lane.

The English (and South Africans) drive on the left to prevent them from attacking each other.

But remember the left was considered evil.

When attacking from horseback a right handed person do better when taking the right lane.

No, your reach is reduced as is your swing arc when using such weapons as a sword or mace. Additionally it limits the types of attack you can employ against an opponent using such weapons.

This sounds like an ill-advised practical exercise in the making.

Maybe that is where our road rage is coming from.

It is in any case nicer to have a girl on your left.

But I have always favored the girl to be on my right!

That way I have my left hand free if I need to slap some sense into people!

Personally I prefer tractors. You generally sit in the middle when driving one of them!

Personally I prefer tractors. You generally sit in the middle when driving one of them!

Do you think..........That we think..........That you are joking????????

i cant ride a horse.

but in the Book of Five Rings : clearing a room from your right to left ...

right handed sword play .. left handed sword play.. how about 2 swords? which side you gonna drive to then? i don't mean 2 guys w/ swords.. i mean a guy w/ 2 swords....

go to his back hand.. opens up your flank.. go to his " strong " side.. open up your head...some practices evolved due to custom.some due to time tested reality.

my .02

how about 2 swords?

I would not suggest trying to fight on a horse with two swords in hand (least you find yourself quickly on the ground while your horse continues running).

the American Indian:

or the Samuari... Khan hordes...all could control their animal with pressure from their thighs allowing both hands for weapons... from what i read:

but my point was: is :.. swords on the left of your body.. drawn right handed.. so

from what i know of combat...: training and the ability to stay focused , aware of your immediate inviroment...the presence of mind to control your fear...especially since the animal picks up on that fear ...makes no difference on " what side to drive to"...

in combat: the " dance of the spears "... the fluidity of the engagement.. the ebb and flow of energy between the combatants..are factors more to value than "drive to his right..." as a set piece opening gambit.

since i don't have any experince w/ horses... im not good enough to steer w/o hands..lol

Mounted archers seem to manage well enough . And jousting knights with a shield in one hand and a lance in the other....

Yes, but in both fighting styles the horse rider is balanced, and jousting nights were practically tied to the horse for the necessary stability.

I think this is getting a little off track to the original question.

Always select the left lane when approaching an exit from a dual-carriageway or a motorway in the UK, reducing speed as appropriate to traffic conditions. It is good practice to indicate with a left-turn signal 150yd or so in advance of making the slip manoeuvre.

In some places, making a "change lane" signal, signals other motorists to speed up to prevent you from making that lane change. Just try making a lane change on a Los Angeles freeway. BTW, they call it a freeway because it is a free-for-all. All people it seems have a dual personality; their normal one and the behind-the-wheel one.

I can't believe nobody got the right answer to this question. It was Napoleon that made everybody in Europe change sides of the road to avoid fights, as someone pointed out about fighting with swords on horseback (assume you are right handed, as most people are, and I suspect that most of the southpaws in the dark ages adapted to using their right hand to hold their sword). The reason they drive on the left in England and Japan is that Napoleon never invaded either country.

In the early days of driving in America, there was no correct side of the road to drive on.. When Henry Ford built the model T, it had no door on the drivers side. (left) The driver got out using the right hand door. He would drive up to the curb, on the right to get out. this started America driving on the right. In British Columbia, Canada, where I live, there was a time when the lower mainland and Vancouver island drove on the left, while the rest of the province drove on the right. As there was not many connecting roads or many vechicles, this did not cause many problems. Interesting thing, when I was in England last, the tour busses coming through the Chunnel, had to make a switch in sides, as the continent is RH and the jolly old sod is LH. Glad Iwasn't driving there. When I came back from a Scout Jamboree in New Zealand, Leaving my driveway, I had to check which side of the vechicle the steering wheel was on befroe proceeding. Took me awhile to get used to the right side as I was used to thinking left.

Vic

Additional information for the reader that has never been across The Channel/La Manche:

The Channel Tunnel is a rail tunnel, one of the engineering marvels of our times, in which road vehicles are carried on purpose-designed shuttle trains that trip between specially-designed road/rail terminals at Sangatte and Folkestone. The services are branded "Le Shuttle" (another pollution of the French language with an English word considered regrettable by some). The transit time is of the order of ¹/₂h. In-between the shuttle services are the high-speed Eurostar train services carrying pedestrian traffic only, which ply between London St. Pancras station to either Paris Gare du Nord or Brussels, with limited intermediate stops at Ebbsfleet International, Ashford and Lille. Transit time from central London to central Paris is of the order of 2¹/₂h

There is also a network of road vehicle ferries that ply the waters between either Ramsgate or Dover and either Calais, Boulogne or Zeebrugge. The transit time is of the order of 2h+, allowing for embarcation and disembarcation time.

On most UK main roads leading away from Channel ports one will find reminder signs that say "Drive on the left/Conduisez à gauche/Bitte links fahren". Quite what the Poles, Dutch, Spanish, Portugese and those from the Scandinavian countries are supposed do is open to conjecture, and quite possibly the target of humour....

When I drove in Germany, I found my biggest problem was opening the window before setting off - instead of releasing the handbrake. I only made one mistake when driving there (turning round in the mouth of a road).

Back in Blighty, it took a week (and a drive to Plymouth) to get my sealegs back .

.........driving in America, there was no correct side of the road to drive on.....

Was????

When did it change????

My apologies..........."sarcasm is the lowest form of wit"

<....."sarcasm is the lowest form of wit"....>

...though highly prized on CR4!

I like it..............one must always have a sense of humour.........even if it is twisted!!

Hi, for some strange reason, I can not see posts # 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 16 and don't know if this link was posted by somebody else or not, I personally prefer this link to wiki article: http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm.

Mishka

You're set up to hide "Off Topic" answers. Hit the Red plus sign in the top RH corner of the post. Or register and you can change your setting to always display them! This is essential on the Bath Breaking Thread.

I'd probably kill someone driving in the UK. Too many years driving on the right. I'd rather take a cab and get there alive.

I've driven on the 'wrong' side of the road in Germany & was OK apart from judging distance to the passenger side and negotiating roundabouts. It's very easy to revert back to your normal driving method without realising.

I believe it may have been the actor Matthew Broderick who did have a head on crash in the UK. So I myself would be cautious.

How come the Canadians drive on the right?

As an aside, I remember hearing that in Canada there is a law requiring all heavy machinery to have ambidextrous controls. This was apparently put into law due to studies that showed that lefties did have higher rates of accidents due to the way control designs favored righthanded operators.

Forgive me but I have not visited the links.

Does it say anywhere in the literature if there is evidence that driving on the left, is safer than driving on the right?

The rule on the inland waterways in the UK is to drive (navigate?) on the right and pass left-to-left or rather port-to-port. It originates from the time when right-handed bargees placed their right hand on the tiller (the steering handle on the back of the boat) and had a good view of the passing clearances on the port side of the vessel.

French and Swiss railways run on the left, whereas their road network is drive on the right.

Confusing, isn't it?

Were I concerned about meeting a swordsman on the road, I would probably carry a lance (or, if 1914, a Mauser pistol).

I have experience driving on the right and on the left. As noted, in America things were a bit loose at first. I have seen an ad for a Ford Model T which noted that the steering wheel is on the left so that a female passenger, on the right, can exit directly over the curb (kerb).

A very good reason for having the wheel on the left is so that the gearshift is manipulated by the (dextrous) right hand. (not applicable to the Model T, as it had no gearshift lever) I once drove a Bentley which had the wheel on the right, of course, but had the gearshift lever on the right, next to the door, and a rather complex linkage to the centrally mounted transmission.

I have also driven a left-hand drive car in the UK, which is not difficult if one remembers always to drive close to the kerb or hedge. Yes, it was more difficult to judge the clearance when a car passed from the other direction, but I had faith that if the hedge was slapping me, there would be room. Anyway, ignorance is bliss.

In the US, mail delivery persons often drive right hand drive cars so that they can reach a roadside mail box from the driver's seat.

We Indians are apt is driving right hand drive vehicals on both sides of the road

Because driving straight across the road doesn't get you very far.

The motor club i belong to printed an article that explained that the first Fords were right hand drive. But Henry had to turn the motor around and in so doing it was too difficult to keep the steering gear on the right. So he simply placed the steering gear on the left. This car developed into the very successful model T. At the time there was no law stating which side of the road to drive on. So by shear weight of numbers the left dominated.

A question for our American friends; Is it true that the constituion declares that the metre is to be used as the standard measure of distance in the U.S.A.?

No. The American constitution was written before the meter was invented. There was a law after WW-2 declaring that the metric system would be adoipted, but there is many a slip twixt the change of law and the change of behavior. Liquids are now sold in various sizes, quarts or liters, but with the total milliliters on the lable. I have a carton of milk marked "1 quart (946 ml.)", but Coca Cola comes in 2 liter bottles. Building materials are usually not metric; for example, walls are made with "2 by4" studs, which are actually about 1-3/4" x 3-1/2". Automobiles are now metric with all sorts of strange fasteners. (In contrast, a 1/2" wrench [spanner] and a pair of pliers would do almost anything for a Model T. )

A question for our American friends; Is it true that the constituion declares that the metre is to be used as the standard measure of distance in the U.S.A.?

I know, some time around 1980, America conducted a pole for shifting from foot pounds to meter Kilograms and people opposed the change. Thus still americans are using miles and gallons and pounds, though almost all the world has shifted to metric system.

Here in India, the changeover happened smoothly without anybody's much notice.

what's missing from this thread is some comment on gearchange on motorcycles, and perhaps front / rear brake lever siting on bicycles

I remember reading somewhere that there was a law stating "a man holding a lantern was required to walk down the road preceding an automobile when a horse drawn carriage was encountered". Could this have any bearing on the RH/LH dilemma?

There was, indeed. Link. It is unlikely to have had a bearing on the LH/RH conundrum.

So the man has to be pyschic? How else would he know when the horse drawn carriage would be encountered?

Then there was the red flag man. I believe one them got run over....

The 'Locomotives on Highways Act' (Red Flag Act) was passed by the British Government in 1865. It was intended to regulate the use of heavy traction engines pulling large loads. The Act limited speeds to 6.4 kms per hour in the country and 3.2 in towns. It also required that every road locomotive must have three attendants - one to steer, one to stoke and one to walk 50 metres ahead of the vehicle, bearing a red flag, signaling the driver when to stop.