What’s the Reason Behind Right-Hand Driving in Some Countries?

It has always been a mystery why the world seemed to be divided when it comes to the location of their car’s steering wheel. Nowadays, it’s known as “right-hand driving”, where the steering wheel is placed on the right side of the car. “Left-hand driving”, on the other hand, is where the steering wheel is placed on the left side of the vehicle.

Typically, a right-hand drive vehicle drives on the “left side of the road“, or left-hand traffic (LHT). In normal conversation, it’ll be a car that “drives on the left.”

On the other hand, a left-hand drive vehicle drives on the “right side of the road“, or right-hand traffic (RHT). It will be a car that “drives on the right.”

Many countries that practice right-hand driving are former British colonies. Even though not all, like Indonesia and Timor Leste.

And there’s a reason behind it. During English feudalism where knights or sword fighters were still in the norm, right-handed swordsmen would prefer to keep to the “left side of the road” for the following reasons:

• So they can easily use their right hand to wield their sword to an approaching opponent
• To avoid bumping into another’s scabbard, which is the thin cover of the sword that’s attached to a belt and placed on the left part the body
• To easily mount from the left side, and dismount from the right side of the horse

Napoleon started to enforce left-hand driving when he conquered European countries like Germany, Switzerland, Poland, and many others. Of course, his staunch opponents like Britain stubbornly refused to do so, and maintained their right-hand driving tradition. In fact, Britain enforced this rule in all its colonies, which is the reason why India and most of its African colonies still use right-hand driving even today.

The United States, on the other hand, wanted to escape its British roots, so went towards left-hand driving, instead.

Still, there are some countries that want to maintain their right-hand driving tradition — particularly the U.K. Other countries that also practice it include:

• Thailand
• Indonesia
• South Africa
• Singapore
• New Zealand
• Malta
• Malaysia
• Kenya
• Japan
• Jamaica
• Isle of Man
• Ireland
• India
• Hong Kong
• Cyprus
• Channel Islands
• Caribbean Islands
• Australia

Source: Carmudi Insider