Why do some countries drive on the right hand side of the road and others on the left?

satguru

It's more for the prevalent than a definitive answer. Back with horses the left was normal as the sword was held in the right hand for oncoming enemies, and there were various other positional advantages in having the dominant side to the centre. With cars you kept the right hand on the wheel while changing gear with the left, and only Napoleon decided to swap sides, being left handed and not being interested in the majority. http://www.starimage.co.uk/scda/reference/drive_on_the_left.htm Since then being part of a larger continent the Europeans and their colonies slowly switched until only the British and many of theirs remain what was the original way, plus Japan and various other independent countries who made their own decisions. Mar 11 07, 4:40 PM

Baloo55th

A lot of the early cars were right-hand drive, even though they drove on the right. This was because the early gears took quite a bit of strength to shift, and most people found it easier with the right hand. Napoleon was a bit before cars, and I've heard that his decision was to prevent sword encounters on the highway. Personally, I've never given much credence to that story, or the reason for keeping to the left. If you're going to use a sword on someone, you could quite easily manoeuvre into position whichever side you were on. Mar 11 07, 5:11 PM

Flem-ish

It is rumoured that in southern countries the principle which was really applied was: right or left does not matter, drive where the shade is. For more documented views see: Why do some countries drive on the right and others on the left ? http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm Mar 12 07, 4:40 AM