Right or Left Trivia Quiz

Answer: Right side

At the time of writing this quiz, about two thirds of the world (by both population and by country/territory count) drives on the right. Changes are a lot less frequent recently than in some stretches of the past but countries do still change sides once in a great while, and of course the number of nations of the world changes from time to time as well,

Answer: LHT/RHT

These stand for Left Hand Traffic or Right Hand Traffic respectively. This concept is so important to maintaining order on the streets that it is sometimes simply called "the rule of the road."

If you are entering into a heavy discussion on this subject it will also be helpful to know the acronyms LHD and RHD for Left/Right Hand Drive. This refers to the position of the driver's seat inside the vehicle.

As suggested by Henry Ford originally, for automobiles, positioning the driver away from the curb (to be more centered in the road for better vision, and to minimize the need for passengers to go into the street to enter the vehicle), LHD in RHT areas and RHD in LHT areas are the preferred positions for drivers. The exceptions are some delivery vehicles, street sweeper cars and other specialized utility vehicles for which it is particularly advantageous for the driver to be positioned on the curbside.

Answer: True

This would be desirable in any number of situations where a driver ends up with a car configured in the opposite format to that which is the norm in the country of residence. You can do just about anything with enough money, and though it is possible, there is significant cost involved with doing a full rebuild where you relocate the steering column, pedals, dashboard display, and several other less vital components to the opposite side.

Some people get creative in trying to get around these costs, and fast and less costly conversion kits are available. Some bare bones conversions provide a working switch, but are less than aesthetically perfect, employing such "cheats" as a belt or chain attached to the steering column, in its original position, and the steering wheel now relocated to the opposite side (or sometimes a second steering wheel is added and it is possible to steer from either seat). I even found an elaborate set which allowed a similar operation of the original gas, brake, and clutch pedals still in place, from add on pedals on the opposite side, attached via a series of hinged bars and levers. If you have the time you might do an internet search along the lines of "LHD/RHD conversion". Some of the images found there are hilarious.

One item often overlooked in such "homemade" conversions, is that the projections of the two headlight beams are not typically symmetrical. The driver's side light often has a purposely stunted field of coverage so as to not shine light excessively into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Manual blinders are available for this purpose to modify the passenger side headlight and they are even required at some border crossings where there is a switch between LHT and RHT.

Answer: Right-handedness, horses, swords

A lot of the initial standardization came down to the fact that more people are right handed. Right handed people generally have an easier time mounting a horse on the left side and as that was a common mode of travel, it made more sense to get on horses from the off-road side. That is one of the reasons why many early systems favored left side of the road travel.

For foot traffic, specifically sword bearers, you would typically wear the scabbard opposite of your preferred hand for an easier draw. It was also preferable to pass with your scabbard opposite from the approaching person. If a foe, this made them less able to interfere with you drawing your sword, and if friendly this made an annoying accidental bump of sword-to-leg or sword-to-sword less likely. So again, in a world dominated by righties, this made left side travel the norm.

However, horses again played a part in the emergence of right-side favoring systems. Teamsters in America and France begin hauling loads in large wagons, driven by teams of horses. In the early going there was no seat for the driver so again, the predominantly right handed bunch started to favor the left rear horse for greater control (with the right whip wielding hand in central position). For similar reasoning as having automobile drivers nearer the center of the road, this led to a preferential shift to right side driving.

There has never been conclusive evidence in the automobile era that driving on one side of the road or the other leads to fewer accidents (aside from a greater frequency of right eye dominance in the world at large arguably making LHT safer for elderly drivers with reduced eyesight) and despite frequent right/left symbolism among the world's religions, this has been a non-factor for the most part. Cost has certainly been a considerable factor in spurring on (or delaying) switching sides more so than initial customs, but on the whole it has been a minor factor relative to the others.

One other significant factor I left out of this question is conquest. There is a notable history of dictators imposing their rule of the road preference on lands they conquered, most notably in modern history by Napoleon and Hitler. As these were temporary switches, often defiantly reversed upon liberation, I left this out of the choices since the frequency of such changes is offset somewhat by their fleeting nature.

Answer: Mainland countries drive on right, island nations/territories on left

This is due to several factors, chief among them the widespread expanse of the British Empire at its peak. Persisting into modern times, many countries which were former British colonies continued to drive on the left after gaining independence. While many of those which were mainland colonies have since converted to RHT for harmony with neighbors, many island nations are isolated from such moves toward regional uniformity and have thus retained their leftness.

Answer: No specific thing, techniques vary widely

Many different arrangements, from simple to elaborate, are used to accomplish right/left changeover, including crossover bridges where the crossing occurs at a fixed point in the middle of a bridge. Other methods include ramp systems which resemble the loops of highway interchanges, only there is no crossroad, you simply return to the opposite side of the same road you were on.

Traffic roundabouts, traffic lights, and/or gated points are also used at some crossings. My personal favorite, used on some very rural crossings (and the inspiration for the joke answers given here as it seems to me like a disaster waiting to happen should there ever be an unusually high traffic flow) is a simple open road with no direct control, only signs that essentially say "OK get on the other side now please".

Answer: An initial decrease in accidents, followed by a return to the previous norm

This pattern actually falls in line with something known as risk homeostasis theory. This somewhat controversial theory, in simplified terms states that most people will live as riskily as they feel they can get away with.

The idea in this case is, people recognize a higher risk in the shifted environment of the new road rules and thus tend to drive more carefully while adapting. After a time, the old baseline complacency re-establishes itself and things come out about the same on the other side of the road.

Answer: The second world war

Though at least some of the wrong answers came into play later in sustaining delay, the switch was initially halted by the war. Iceland was heavily occupied by British forces who were comfortable with left side driving so the native desire for change was ceded to the guest protectors. When the British departed, the momentum for the change had subsided but outsiders were not done having a major say in this issue. One of the things that rekindled the desire to switch in the late 60s was outside pressure from tourists/visitors from right hand driving nations.

Iceland had learned a lot of good practices from Sweden, which had completed the left to right switch the previous year, but even with this superior preparation it was still a monumental undertaking. The Icelandic Traffic Commission switched 1662 road signs the night before the change (of an eventual total of nearly 6000 signs changed) and the switch went through with spectacular smoothness. No deaths were reported and the only recorded injury specifically attributed to the switch was a bicycle rider with a broken leg.

Answer: Samoa

All the wrong choices drive on the left but have done so for most if not all of their organized history. Samoa, as with other more recent switches, was out of line with their region due to past colonization (Germany) and made the switch at least in part to harmonize with the their closest neighbors. In their case, though the primary motivation to switch was with the lower cost of import vehicles from LHT/RHD nations Australia and New Zealand.

As with many other such switches, the Samoan road side change was a highly organized event and went pretty smoothly despite some protests and fears of chaos (there was even a political party formed with the exclusive platform of resistance to the driving change). To alleviate these concerns speed limits were temporarily reduced, roads widened, speed bumps installed at some points of high concern and alcohol sales were even banned for a few days leading up to the change. Early in the morning on the day of the switch, public radio announcements ordered a ten minute stoppage of all motor traffic. When traffic flow resumed it was under the new LHT rules and that was that.

Answer: False

With a bit more freedom to move about you might not expect this to come up very often, especially on the open oceans, but there are well established shipping lanes which leads to frequent close approaches even in open water. The international convention is for ships to pass on the right. Closer to ports, channel markers are often employed to keep order in more space restricted waters.

It is understood that this creates almost a road on the ocean, and ships should pass to the right of the markers and stick to those "lanes".