On Which Side of the Road Do You Drive?

By Awake! writer in Britain

I meet my American visitor at the airport and walk with him to my waiting car. “Sit in the front,” I suggest, and he immediately tries to get in on the driver’s side. “Oh, I forgot,” he remarks. “You drive on the wrong side of the road here.”

Of course, I would probably say the same thing to him if I visited the United States. But during our ride home, I decided to find out why people in some countries drive on the left side of the road, while most of the world drives on the right.

Early Driving Customs

Let’s go back in history some two thousand years to the time when the Romans occupied Britain. Archaeologists have unearthed a clue about driving habits back then. In 1998 they found a well-preserved track leading to a Roman quarry near Swindon, England. The ruts in the road on one side are much deeper than those on the other side, as would be the case with carts going in empty and coming out laden with stone. The ruts suggest that, at least at this location, the Romans drove on the left.

In fact, some believe that ancient travelers on horseback generally rode on the left side of the road. As more people are right-handed, horsemen would thus be able to hold the reins with their left hand and keep their right hand free​—to offer in friendship to a passing rider or to defend themselves with a sword, if necessary.

A Change to the Right

In the late 1700’s, a shift from left to right took place in countries such as the United States, when teamsters started using large freight wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. The wagons had no driver’s seat, so the driver sat on the left rear horse and held his whip in his right hand. Seated on the left, the driver naturally preferred that other wagons pass him on the left so that he could be sure to keep clear of the wheels of oncoming wagons. He did that by driving on the right side of the road.

 The English, however, kept to the left. They had smaller wagons, and the driver sat on the wagon, usually on the right side of the front seat. From there he could use his long whip in his right hand without entangling it in the cargo behind him. In that position, on the right side of the wagon, the driver could judge the safety margin of passing traffic by keeping to the left side of the road. Countries that became part of the British Empire adopted the keep-left rule too, although there were some exceptions. Canada, for example, eventually changed to the right in order to make border crossings to and from the United States easier.

Political events in France had a big effect on driving habits. Before the Revolution of 1789, the aristocracy drove their carriages along the left side of the roads, forcing the peasants to the other side. But once the Revolution started, these nobles desperately tried to hide their identity by joining the peasant travelers on the right. By 1794 the French government had introduced a keep-right rule in Paris, which later spread to other regions as the conquering armies of Napoléon I marched through much of continental Europe. It is not surprising that Napoléon favored keeping to the right. One reference work explains that because he was left-handed, “his armies had to march on the right so he could keep his sword arm between him and any opponent.”

In Europe, countries that resisted Napoléon kept to the left. Russia and Portugal switched to the right early in the 20th century. Austria and Czechoslovakia changed to the right when occupied by Nazi Germany at the end of the 1930’s, and Hungary followed suit. Today just four European countries still drive on the left: Britain, Ireland, Cyprus, and Malta. Interestingly, although Japan never was a British colony, it too drives on the left.

Boats, Planes, Trains, and You

What about boats and planes? Generally speaking, water traffic keeps to the right. Aircraft too keep to the right. And trains? In some countries the signaling equipment determines on which side a double-track railway operates. Modern main-line railways often let trains run in either direction on either track, but with older signaling equipment, the track runs in one direction only. What direction that is was likely determined, at least in some cases, by the country that originally designed and built the railroad.

And what about pedestrians? It is generally recommended that if there is no separate footpath or sidewalk, it is safest to walk facing oncoming traffic, no matter which side the cars are on. If cars keep right, then pedestrians are advised to walk on the left side of the road facing oncoming vehicles. In Britain, where we drive on the left, we try to remember to walk on the right. What about our American friend? Why, he does the opposite!