The 'Is is time to go metric' has made me think that is it time to go the whole way and swap sides to the road, go left hand drive. I dont know why but when i have been on the continant, i have always thought that it just seems to make more sense.
And it isn't impossible; in Sweden a few years ago they completly changed their road system in one night to the continental standard

Please Discuss

many countries drive on the left. And if the UK actually shared a land border, then I would think you should change. But you don't. You can't drive off the island, so keep it as is :D

I would've supported it 40 years back. I'm not sure it's practical these days. It's cost an arm and a leg too, so I'd expect the EU to offer to fund such a project before I even considered supporting the idea.

fosters: the change in Sweden was done in 1967.

I found this very amuzing website about this subject:
http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm

A total of 74 countries have left-side driving, including India and Japan (I didn't know that).

No and it isn't just the UK that drives on the left hand side, I know alot of commwealth countries in Africa do as well.

Driving on the left is the norm for millions of people around the world.

some people talk about in 10 or 20 years a road bridge being built between England and Farnce. Do you think they may consider it then?

Nope. Interestingly the Channel Tunnel service tube is keep left and the trains travel on the left too. A road bridge would probably also be keep left and you'd switch at Calais.

Hell no. Keep it the way it is. What possible purpose would it serve to suddenly change which side of the road we drive on? I've often wondered if the EU in its bid for total compliance will ever make us convert to the right.

some people talk about in 10 or 20 years a road bridge being built between England and Farnce. Do you think they may consider it then?
if that is done then it would be much better to simply build a junction at one end where cars would switch sides, like the road in Hong Kong which connects to the mainland.

not realy practial is it

if that is done then it would be much better to simply build a junction at one end where cars would switch sides, like the road in Hong Kong which connects to the mainland.

Or take one lane over/under the other lane via a bridge.. or tunnel to keep continuous flow.

Well no, that's never a good idea. You could change the right side into the right side though. ;)
And well, I don't think it'd really be worth it. Compared to changing to metric, this doesn't really have much advantages since the country is geographically seperated.

Driving on the left is actually more sensible and safer, since most people are right-eyed.

Driving on the left is actually more sensible and safer, since most people are right-eyed.

There is alot of truth in that, at my recent eye test I noticed when I had the patch on, the vision in my right eye was rubbish compared to the left which proved that for most of my life my right eye has done more work.

If what you are saying is true about most people being right eyed true, isn't it at least eqully as important for people to have their good eye on the much more vunerable cyclists and pedestrians than cars?

Pointless fact alert:

The reason most countries drive on that right is simply because we drive on the left. Bascially they did it to piss us off!

so I'd expect the EU to offer to fund such a project before I even considered supporting the idea.

It sounds like the sort of thing the EU would fund :crazy:

Changing the sides of the road would serve no purpose other than to cost a hell of a lot of cash.

^^ The EU would never in a million years shell out the amount of funding needed. Certainly not to the British.

The reason why we drive on the left dates back hundreds of years..........when people rode around on horseback and swords were more widly used.....it made sense to ride on the left hand side of any roads or tracks that there where..........bascially, if you needed to attack somone approaching you with your sword it would be easier to swing (as most people are right handed)........does that make sense??

anyway......as somone else pointed out, the only reason why the rest of europe and the USA doesnt drive on the left is purely to be different than us.

Anyway, we arent the only country to drive on the left........Australia, NZ, Japan, India , Ireland and most african countries, just to name a few.........also drive on the left.

Not most African countries...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d5/Driving_standards.png/400px-Driving_standards.png

...anyway......as somone else pointed out, the only reason why the rest of europe and the USA doesnt drive on the left is purely to be different than us.


I don't think that's strictly true. Many mainland Europe countries drove on the left but switched to the right because they neighboured countries that drove on the right, examples being Sweden, Portugal and the Netherlands.

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/5126/rhd12th.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5083/rhd28ty.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/1972/rhd37id.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/9166/rhd46ae.jpg

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/663/rhd53fo.jpg

I actually did some research into accidents, road fatalities and which side of the road that countries drove. Interestingly Britain and other left driving countries tended to have fewer accidents and lower road fatalities. So keep it as it it - we don't want to end up like the continent with horrific driving patterns.

The only time you might have a problem is when car manufacturers are not going to make special cars for the UK anymore. Driving on he left side with a continental / American car or the other way around is very dangerous.

I read an add for a BMW that can switch sides. It also said that it would be prohibited to drive LHD cars in mainland Europe from 2009(?). Does anyone know anything about that?

You can't compare the Swedish conversion to ours. Consider all the electronic signs on the Motorways. Entire motorway junctions would have to be re-wired (in order to move the traffic lights). If the off-ramps end in 3 lanes then the entire roundabout would have to be remodeled.

Unlike the the metric argument we're in the right (yes I know) on this one. With have too bloody good reasons for this system and unlike the imperial system it hasn't become out dated. If anything it has become more appropriate. You have far more threats on your outside than inside. Making the eye issue more important.

Not most African countries...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d5/Driving_standards.png/400px-Driving_standards.png


The ones that matter are in there like South Africa, the biggest economy in the continent right up to Kenya and Mozambque who I think is going to be a big player in the next 40 years.

They are probably the best places in Africa (bar Nigeria) in that grouping of countries, the rest are former french ones and are either at war or desert.

Even Zimbabwe drives on the left, well we did when we had some petrol :cry:

The only time you might have a problem is when car manufacturers are not going to make special cars for the UK anymore. Driving on he left side with a continental / American car or the other way around is very dangerous.i doubt that would happen though
i'd expect india, australia, SA and japan are big enough markets to keep it going :)

Keep it as it is!

The only time you might have a problem is when car manufacturers are not going to make special cars for the UK anymore.

Yes, it's such a wrench for all those Japanese companies to put the steering wheel on the right-hand side... :)

Driving on the left is actually more sensible and safer, since most people are right-eyed.
:?
The opposite, the danger is not what comes from the right since as you stated correctly we are better aware of what comes from the right. What comes from the right is what you as a driver should take care of, whilst usually it's of much a lesser threat than oncoming traffic. So to improve on safety, driving on the right is saner. Think bikers, people on the pavement. Unless you have many zigzag wanderers on the road. Perhaps a nation of binge drinkers should then drive on the left. People on the pavement too lame to cross a street and drivers who can't steer straight.

I read an add for a BMW that can switch sides. It also said that it would be prohibited to drive LHD cars in mainland Europe from 2009(?). Does anyone know anything about that?

I doubt it. That would be catastrophic for the British haulage industry and we have a veto. Its probably more scare mongering like the straight banana story.

No we definitely shouldn't be driving on the right. The left is the correct side in a country where most people are right handed and right-eyed. Your right hand side is always nearest to oncoming traffic which makes sense. I actually read about a scientific study which found that the accident rate was lower in countries that drove on the left. I always think it seems more natural to drive on the left. We write left to right after all. Perhaps Britain was the first country in the world to actually decide on a side of the road to drive on. It's not as though we chose to drive on the left to spite the rest of the world- the decision was made here first. I think I remember reading that it was the United States that first decided to drive on the right and other countries followed suit. In Mainland Europe, as one land mass I think many countries drove on the right because their neighbours did, for the sake of convenience I presume. Interestingly though, 2 countries out of the 4 largest economies in the world, the UK and Japan drive on the left.

http://www.2pass.co.uk/goodluck.htm

This explains it a bit more, it's interesting that as the United States was the first country to mass produce cars, this had an impact on the side of the road countries chose- most chose the right.

"The drive-on-the-right policy was adopted by the USA, which was anxious to cast off all remaining links with its British colonial past

Once America drove on the right, left-side driving was ultimately doomed. If you wanted a good reliable vehicle, you bought American, for a period they only manufactured right-hand-drive cars.

From then on many countries changed out of necessity."

I don't think that's strictly true. Many mainland Europe countries drove on the left but switched to the right because they neighboured countries that drove on the right, examples being (..) the Netherlands.
That was in medieval times. No cars, trams etc ever drove on the left in NL.

I doubt it. That would be catastrophic for the British haulage industry and we have a veto. Its probably more scare mongering like the straight banana story.
John Peel drove a RHD BMW.

:?
The opposite, the danger is not what comes from the right since as you stated correctly we are better aware of what comes from the right. What comes from the right is what you as a driver should take care of, whilst usually it's of much a lesser threat than oncoming traffic. So to improve on safety, driving on the right is saner. Think bikers, people on the pavement. Unless you have many zigzag wanderers on the road. Perhaps a nation of binge drinkers should then drive on the left. People on the pavement too lame to cross a street and drivers who can't steer straight.Well that unfortunately is not the case as its safer to drive on the left. Its no coincidence that Britain has amongst the lowest rates of road fatalities in Europe and perhaps the continent should shift more towards Britain's way of driving. :yes:

Bizzarly. All canal boats in the UK drive on the right. Anyone know why?

:?
The opposite, the danger is not what comes from the right since as you stated correctly we are better aware of what comes from the right. What comes from the right is what you as a driver should take care of, whilst usually it's of much a lesser threat than oncoming traffic. So to improve on safety, driving on the right is saner. Think bikers, people on the pavement. Unless you have many zigzag wanderers on the road. Perhaps a nation of binge drinkers should then drive on the left. People on the pavement too lame to cross a street and drivers who can't steer straight.

Its about numbers. Cyclists on the road are quite a rare sight on the road. They are also alot slower moving than the nutter overtaking you at 100+ mph. Passenger side mirrors weren't even legally required until the 70s. Drivers are also alot more erratic than other road users. Watch the sequence before programmes on Channel 4 and you'll understand completely.

No we definitely shouldn't be driving on the right. The left is the correct side in a country where most people are right handed and right-eyed. Your right hand side is always nearest to oncoming traffic which makes sense.
Actually I'd say driving on the left benefits left-handers more, because it means that our vehicles are right-hand drives. This means that all the fiddly stuff you do with your left hand (buttons, gear changes, etc.). Also, as a right-hander I've noticed that resting my left elbow out the window is more comfortable than doing it with the right.

I read an add for a BMW that can switch sides. It also said that it would be prohibited to drive LHD cars in mainland Europe from 2009(?). Does anyone know anything about that?

Yeah i d imagine that cars will all go to drive by wire in less than a decade. Once that happens you don't need a steering column and can easily have a car that converts between the two.

I remember when taking a sightseeing bus in 1997, we passed this street in the City or somewhere around, the guide told it was a privately owned street and the american owning it decided that it should be right side driving in it. Is it still like that?
I tried Google, but couldn't find anything about such a street...

Roads in and out of Hammersmith Bus Station also have right side driving, though only for busses and clearly marked 'Drive on right' :)

Oh, and the entrance to Savoy Theatre is also right side.

There is diversion to that ^^ extent on the continent as well but in general traffic is supposed to keep to the right. Sometimes it proves to be more practical to switch sides though. On railway station platforms is where people tend to get worried by an unexpected swift. Yet such change was required.

Another advantage of driving on the left is that most people are right-handed, so when looking through the back window when reversing, the stronger arm is being used to control the steering wheel.

Well, I would have problems driving a UK car as I've been gearing with my right hand since 1994 and never tried the opposite. Guess I would have bought an automatic :)
I got a motorbike instead, then it doesn't matter :D

Another advantage of driving on the left is that most people are right-handed, so when looking through the back window when reversing, the stronger arm is being used to control the steering wheel.

Left handed people seem to manage ok as does most of the rest of the world. I don't think this or the eye issue really make a difference, after all head on collisions with traffic coming the other way are only a small minority of incidents, there are pedestrians crossing, cyclists, cars pulling out of junctions, kidsrunning from behind parked cars, all of which come from the left hand side.

Maybe we should drive on the left but with a special dispensation for left-handed or left-eyed people who should be allowed to drive on the right if they wish!

Well that unfortunately is not the case as its safer to drive on the left. Its no coincidence that Britain has amongst the lowest rates of road fatalities in Europe and perhaps the continent should shift more towards Britain's way of driving. :yes:

I don't think that proves anything. Compare the UK or Ireland to other Northern European countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Germany etc and there isn't much of a difference.

Mediterranean and Eastern European countries have much higher accident rates but this is due to other factors, infrastructure quality, average age of cars, rates of car ownership, % of driving done on safer motorways vs regular roads, climate, driving culture, adherence to speed limits, drink driving laws etc.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/care/statistics/series/fatal1991_rate/index_en.htm

Jonesy55,

nice to see you, where have you been recently.

I need your help, I've got a vacancy in Shresbury for a graphic designer, do you know anyone who is looking for a job?

Jonesy55,

nice to see you, where have you been recently.

I need your help, I've got a vacancy in Shresbury for a graphic designer, do you know anyone who is looking for a job?

Been rather busy mate, can't think of anyone who wants a job at the moment, my sister's a graphic designer but she lives in London so that's no good. What type of graphic design is it? What's the company?

Been rather busy mate, can't think of anyone who wants a job at the moment, my sister's a graphic designer but she lives in London so that's no good. What type of graphic design is it? What's the company?

It's an agency and they are after a Print and Web Graphics Design person with Photoshop, Quark, Freehand/Illustrator. Salary early 20's. If you could put the word about, I would be really grateful.

It's an agency and they are after a Print and Web Graphics Design person with Photoshop, Quark, Freehand/Illustrator. Salary early 20's. If you could put the word about, I would be really grateful.

I'll be out with my sandwich board and megaphone tomorrow. Seriously I do know a couple of graphic designers in the area but they're already on more than that so I doubt they'd be interested. I'll keep a look out for you though.

Nope. Interestingly the Channel Tunnel service tube is keep left and the trains travel on the left too. A road bridge would probably also be keep left and you'd switch at Calais.

That's because the majority of the French railway network use left track running just like the UK.

Trains in Italy drive on the left track.

Another advantage of driving on the left is that most people are right-handed, so when looking through the back window when reversing, the stronger arm is being used to control the steering wheel.

those arguments are used for right hand drive as well, the stronger arm controls the gear stick, although i believe left hand drive is better!

But, when changing gear, surely it's better to have the stronger arm (i.e Right) in control of the steering wheel.

It's better to be in control of the vehicle's direction, than to have a slightly quicker gear change.

i don't know don't drive, just an argument i read!

The biggest problem of driving a right-hand drive car is that you have to move the gearshift with your left hand

I think driving wrong side is not an good idea to do. if, police caught you they will be issuing you ticket and your points of the driving license will be deceased this will have an effect when we go for the extension of our driving license. So, I advise you to not to drive on wrond side.

India drive on our side(1 billion plus people) of the road so hop it.

I read an add for a BMW that can switch sides. It also said that it would be prohibited to drive LHD cars in mainland Europe from 2009(?). Does anyone know anything about that?

You've been had mate! That ad ran for one day only last year... April 1st!

http://www.bmweducation.co.uk/coFacts/linkDocs/bmwWheel.asp

fosters: the change in Sweden was done in 1967.

I found this very amuzing website about this subject:
http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm

A total of 74 countries have left-side driving, including India and Japan (I didn't know that).
Not all Chinese drive on the right. It depends on what part of China you are in.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg

India, Pakistan, Japan, UK, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, Aussies and a large number of countries drive on the correct side of the road 75 countries in total. 5 out 10 of the worlds most populated countries that drive on our side of the road.

The only other country that really matters is Ireland - we have no road links with any other country (ignoring things like Gibraltar, which is drive on right anyway).

The cost of driving on the right would be huge - more accidents in the period after the change, changes to all sorts of junction geometries and slip road widths and so on, not to mention the cost of replacing every sign in the UK. I reckon 5 years to set up and perhaps £100 billion plus 10,000 lives in cost (I feel that may be quite conservative). Definitely not worth it.

I dont know if its further back in this thread, but someone on here once said that its in fact safer to drive on the left because of the way right handed peoples brains work or something. And most people are right handed, therefore safer on the left.

well we would have to re build 1000s of road junctions if we did change...

If we were to change from the left to the right, imagine what that would involve:

Every single road sign in the country would have to be moved to the other side of the road. (I suppose that would mean new signs unless we went through a period when all the signs were on the wrong side of the road).

Every single bus would have to be reconstructed or renewed almost immediately to avoid passengers having to walk into the opposite carriageway to get on or off.

All major junctions would have to be redesigned to allow acceleration lanes to become turn-offs and vice-versa and to reprofile the entrances and exits from roundabouts.

We would have to go through a period of months when people were getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road and a further period of years during which right hand drive cars were phased out. Think of the accidents during that time.

It cost a large amount for Sweden to change sides back in the late 60s but that was relatively simple as, back then, the number of cars on the road would have been much smaller and the advantages were obvious.

For Britain to move to driving on the right now would easily cost tens of billions and can you imagine Alastair Darling forking out that sort of cash without some obvious return?

Then again .......

What the hell would be the point of changing? It would cost loads (just think of what would need changing!) and cause confusion and disruption. And for what reason?

Stick to the left. Unless someone can come up with an argument that goes further than "but the rest of Europe... blah blah blah".

Seriously, what's the point? It'd cost billions of pounds and honestly, I can think of a million and one better things to spend that money on.

I can't think of a single good reason for changing over, but whenever I advocate changing road signs to kilometres and metres people often try and ridicule that idea by saying "oh, why don't we switch to driving on the right at the same time". Argumentum ad absurdum.

Their is no need for us to change sides, but I must inform ppl, that by 2010 we shud start seeing signs change from mph to km, at first we will have mph below, but eventually it will be km only.

^^ There will be metric speed limit signs etc but there won't be any change from driving on the left to the right. It's not really practical, for a start.

^^ There will be metric speed limit signs etc but there won't be any change from driving on the left to the right. It's not really practical, for a start.

Exactly. Just off the top of my head, my journey home from work involves a restricted junction (one that doesn't allow every combination of transfers). It's fine at the moment, but if we suddenly switched to driving on the right I'd have to go 500 m or so out of my way and add congestion to a motorway junction. On the other hand, traffic that doesn't really exist at the moment would get a direct junction dedicated to it.

Their is no need for us to change sides, but I must inform ppl, that by 2010 we shud start seeing signs change from mph to km, at first we will have mph below, but eventually it will be km only.

A very sad day and total waste of money.

A very sad day and total waste of money.

It would be a complete waste of money if they managed to change every sign in one day - that would be a phenomenal operation!

Personally I'd be delighted rather than sad to see it happen, but I have my doubts...

I have noticed some strange diamonds and little black circles appearing on some road signs... anyone know what these are about?

I have noticed some strange diamonds and little black circles appearing on some road signs... anyone know what these are about?

http://www.cbrd.co.uk/roadsfaq/#381

Thanks Charlie



"Often the symbols are stuck haphazardly onto existing signage."

This is what has caused my own confusion about them!

Not all Chinese drive on the right. It depends on what part of China you are in.

If you are talking about Hong Kong, sorry, it is British territory.

China in one point used to drive on the left side like us British, and their railways still do as the first railways in China are based on the British standard. They just suddenly decided to switch their driving side more than half a century ago for no apparent reason...(the dictators commanded it, I guess?:lol:)

The only other country that really matters is Ireland - we have no road links with any other country (ignoring things like Gibraltar, which is drive on right anyway).

The cost of driving on the right would be huge - more accidents in the period after the change, changes to all sorts of junction geometries and slip road widths and so on, not to mention the cost of replacing every sign in the UK. I reckon 5 years to set up and perhaps £100 billion plus 10,000 lives in cost (I feel that may be quite conservative). Definitely not worth it.

Don't you think it will be more worthwhile to do this in Hong Kong despite of the costs and disadvantages you've mentioned since the Chinese Government wants to merge Hong Kong and Shenzhen into one city? :lol: I reckon if China drives on the right side to start with (but back then, cars don't even exist there), Hong Kong would've end up like Gibraltar.

If you are talking about Hong Kong, sorry, it is British territory.

You're about ten years or so out, mate. Traffic still drives on the left though and will remain doing so.

You're about ten years or so out, mate. Traffic still drives on the left though and will remain doing so.

It will remain so unless the Communist Dictator Regime decides to "officially" merge Hong Kong with their country, which also includes the merger of Hong Kong and Shenzhen...:ohno:

Sorry mate, let it go. Hong Kong is now a S.A.R. of China, for better or worse.

Their is no need for us to change sides, but I must inform ppl, that by 2010 we shud start seeing signs change from mph to km, at first we will have mph below, but eventually it will be km only.

Where did you hear this?

Sorry mate, let it go. Hong Kong is now a S.A.R. of China, for better or worse.

I'm gonna stop now coz I'm afraid it'll turn into another political flame war. I respect your political perspective and I expect you to respect mine. Just FYI there are tons of Hong Kong people who moved to other countries before and after Chinese's invasion of Hong Kong, and some of them have moved back to Britain.

i find it easier to drive on the left as im right handed...