Why do we drive on the wrong side of the road? and why is the steering wheel on the left?

For the answers to these and other tantalising auto-queries you’ve always wondered about…read on!

In days of old, common sense dictated that when people passed each other on the road they should be in the best possible position to defend themselves if attacked. As most people were right handed (and held their swords in their right hands) they generally kept to the left. This practice was even formalised by the Pope around 1300 AD when he advised his pilgrims to keep to the left!

Centuries later the ‘keep left’ practice was enforced once again, this time by the UK government's General Highways Act of 1773, which came about due to the increase in horse traffic. The in 1835 the keep left order became law as part of the Highways Bill.

So why do they travel on the right elsewhere?

It’s believed that the French actually travelled on the left until the French Revolution. Before the revolution the French aristocracy drove their carriages at such speed the 'peasants' were forced to use the right side of the road. During the revolution the aristocracy took to using the right so as to 'blend in' and avoid being guillotined! Britain and France were both big colonial powers in the past and so it's likely that they imposed their 'keep right' or 'keep left' rule on their territories abroad.

Here's more trivia for you!

The first cars followed in the footsteps of horse-drawn carriages and the driver was seated in the middle. It wasn't long however before chauffeurs gave way to drivers and drivers naturally wanted a passenger to be able to sit beside them. Manufacturers chose to put the steering wheel on the right or left depending which side of the road their country favoured. So in Germany the steering wheel’s on the left because they drive on the right.

In 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to design a left hand drive car, the Audi Type K. They did this to give the driver a better view of oncoming traffic, making manoeuvres such as overtaking safer. Not surprisingly, such logical thinking inspired other car manufacturers to follow suit and left hand drive cars prevailed by the end of the 1920s.

Earlier still, in 1897 Charles Jeffery of the US manufacturing company Gormully & Jeffery built two left hand drive, front mounted engine cars, highly unusual for US cars of that time. By 1902, the company was producing 1,500 vehicles a year, a figure only surpassed by the Curved Dash Olds.

Safety is the main reason to switch to left hand drive, a criteria adopted by NATO in 1950 when they ordered that all military vehicles used on the Continent should be left hand drive.

So is the UK likely to switch sides?

It's unlikely given the impracticalities. Imagine attempting to enforce a change like that in today's traffic! And, it just so happens that the world's largest car producer - Japan - drives on the left, so naturally produces right hand drive cars for its own domestic market as well as for export.

Who drives what, where?

The rule of thumb is that islands drive on the left and have right hand drive cars. But confusingly, there are exceptions. The United States Virgin Islands for instance, drives on the left in left-hand drive vehicles!

A more accurate rule is that places bordering the Indian Ocean along with some island countries elsewhere in the world, drive on the left. But there are still exceptions. If you'd like to find out more there's a great book available by Peter Kincaid called 'The Rule of the Road: An International Guide to History and Practice' (published by Greenwood Press ISBN 0-313-25249-1).

Here's a rough guide to who drives left hand drive cars (LHD), who drives right hand drive cars (RHD) and who doesn’t know!

LHD - countries who drive on the right side of the road (drivers usually sit on the left).

RHD - countries who drive on the left side of the road (drivers usually sit on the right).

NCE - uninhabited countries/no convention established