there are countries where people drive on the right side of the road, and then there are countries where people drive on the right side of the road.
this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024
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I really don’t get why the states drive wrong-hand drive vehicles. It’s just stupid, most people are right handed. I bet you shoot like shit with your left, and if ever there was a country where shooting out of a vehicle that you’re driving was likely to be a common occurrence, it’s the US. Quid pro quo, it makes more sense for the US to drive on the other side.
I get where you're going with this but I think you have made some incorrect assumptions.
You steer with the left hand, since manual gearboxes are for lorries and Europeans, Americans don't use them, that leaves the right hand available for more important driving related things. Such as checking your phone, grabbing your 64oz soda from the cup holder, or shooting.
You will fail your driving test if you cannot demonstrate proficiency in switching between those tasks. It varies by state of course but typically it's something like, 1) consume minimum 20 grams of sugar in liquid form 2) add a track to a Spotify playlist 3) put two rounds into a roadsign. Naturally this is a timed test.
Countries which ~~use left hand drive~~ drive on the left side of the road account for only a sixth of the world's land area, but a full third of the population.
I suppose that's because ~~left hand drive~~ driving on the left has some very dense populations, like Japan, UK and India
Edit: terminology mistake
india has right-hand drive vehicles. the steering wheel is provided at the right-front seat.
we drive on the left side of the road.
Right front
Right? From the view of someone on the inside? That would be normal for a left side drive nation...
What?! Why?
✨ british imperialism ✨
That doesn't explain why they have the cars meant for side A, but use them to drive on side B.
cars that drive on the right have their steering wheel on the left side (i.e. left-hand drive), and vice versa.
OP said (and stressed with italics) that they have right hand drive cars but drive them on the opposite side, which was the point of his comment
I think you’re getting confused by the terminology; this is an explanation from the Wikipedia article.
The terms right- and left-hand drive refer to the position of the driver and the steering wheel in the vehicle and are, in automobiles, the reverse of the terms right- and left-hand traffic.
ETA: So the red areas have left-hand drive and right-hand traffic, while the blue areas have right-hand drive and left-hand traffic.
and there's the answer
Isnt that how it works everywhere u have steering wheel on right and drive on left u have steering wheel on left u drive on right.
India's doing most of the work here.
Mostly (most notably minus Japan) a map of former UK colonies. At least the ones still a colony when the car became a thing.
Kinda the opposite really. They had horses and wagons and carriages which needed rules about which side of the road to drive on long before cars were invented. The left side was the natural side for horsey reasons and most of the world got around on the left until Napoleon came around and forced mainland Europe to switch.
So the map depicts in red the European countries conquered by Napoleon and their colonies as well as the countries later influenced by the US.
Article literally debunks the Napoleon theory.
LHT-RHT is a classic case of a subject where everyone has their pet overarching theory but which is in fact pretty complex.
What sort of horsey reasons? Now I’m curious.
I needed to consult this map semi recently when I went looking up the places where Suzuki Swifts were made. Long story short, they're all blue.
A friend of mine was looking into getting a second hand Swift and said many of them don't come with a spare tire. I guess it's fine if you have roadside assistance and never leave the city but still seems odd to me.
I've always wondered why right-hand traffic is more prevalent. There have been way more cases of countries changing to the right to match their neighbours than the other way around. Cosmic coincidence, a result of international influence, or aliens?
I think everyone just hates the British. But who am I to judge. I use this absolute hodgepodge for measurement.
when the united states shucked off the control of the english, they meant it, in perpetuity, the other colonies, not so much
For once the US is on the right side of things
I learned to drive on the right. Driving on the left is still more natural for me.
I learned to drive on the right too and it was natural for me as well! But it was not natural for all the people in other vehicles screaming in terror and swerving out of the way. 🤷♂️