It’s probably the sort of thing one only thinks about when heading off to foreign climes on holiday - particularly if you’re going to be driving there - but why do some countries drive on the left and others on the right?

Here in the UK we drive on the left but most of our European neighbours drive on the right.

It would certainly seem like we’re in the minority - but is that the case - and who else drives on the left?

Cross the Channel to the European mainland, keep going in any direction and it’ll be a long time before you find anyone with their steering wheel on the same side of the car (the right) as in the UK.

However, if you head across the Irish Sea to the Republic of Ireland you’ll find they drive on the same side of the road as us.

35% of the world drive on the left

Taking the world as a whole, around 35% of the world’s population drives on the left.

It might not surprise you to know that many of the other countries that do are former British colonies.

If you’re British then you probably think we’ve got it right and those who drive on the right have got it wrong.

The origins of why we do it are interesting to say the least and steeped in distant history - long before the arrival of the motor car.

The World Standards website, which offers information about standards, measures and practices across the world, explains it thus.

It says that in the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies.

Knights of a religious military order known as Knights Templar, founded in 1118 to protect Christian pilgrims
Knights of a religious military order known as Knights Templar, founded in 1118 to protect Christian pilgrims

Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him.

Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.

Also that a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left).

It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.

So, how did it emerge that we don’t adhere to a common standard.

More recent history

Looking at more recent history the World Standards website says that in the late 1700s, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses.

The wagons had no driver’s seat - instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team.

Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.

Early adopters of officially travelling on the right were Russia, France and Denmark.

In Russia Empress Elizabeth issued an edict for traffic to keep to the right in 1752.

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In France it was linked to the Revolution of 1789.

Prior to then the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, with peasants travelling on the right.

For obvious reasons aristocrats later wanted to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right.

An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, shortly after Denmark made driving on the right compulsory in 1793.

The conquests of Napoleon saw this practice spread to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and many parts of Spain and Italy.

Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal, who had all resisted Napoleon, kept to the left.

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That situation prevailed until after the First World War, though the trend was for countries to prefer driving on the right.

Driving on the left was made mandatory in Britain in 1835 and countries which were part of the British Empire followed suit.

That is why India, Australia, New Zealand and the former British colonies in Africa drive on the left.

Although Japan was never part of the British Empire, its traffic also goes to the left, the origin of this dating back to the Edo period (1603-1868).

When the Dutch were establishing an empire they brought driving on the left with them, starting with Indonesia in 1596.

While the Dutch ceded to the Napoleonic way of driving on the right, most of their colonies remained on the left.

It's busy out there tonight

As far as North America goes, English driving customs were followed with the colonies driving on the left.

Independence promoted an about-turn as a means of asserting their own identity.

Some parts of Canada continued to drive on the left until shortly after the Second World War.

They switched to the right in the 1920s in order to conform with the rest of (mostly French) Canada and the USA. Newfoundland drove on the left until 1947, joining Canada in 1949.

In Europe, the remaining left-driving countries switched one by one to driving on the right.

Portugal changed in the 1920s. The change took place on the same day in the whole country, including most of its colonies, with a few staying on the left.

The Austrian states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Carinthia, as well as the western half of Salzburg switched to driving on the right between 1921 and 1935.

Annexing of Austria

When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered the rest of Austria to make the switch overnight.

Formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia and Hungary were among the last states on the mainland of Europe to keep left.

They changed to the right after being invaded by Germany - in 1939 and 1944 respectively.

Interestingly China changed to driving on the right in 1946.

Pakistan considered changing to the right in the 1960s, but decided not to.

Nigeria had been driving on the left but changed to driving on the right in 1972.

The Oresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark in Malmo

In the wake of the Second World War, left-driving Sweden was on its own in mainland Europe.

A 1955 referendum on the introduction of right-hand driving saw 82.9% vote no to making the switch but the Swedish government subsequently decided to do so anyway.

The change was made on Sunday September 3 1967 at 5am, though the whole process took a month.

Iceland followed suit the following year.

Back in the 1960s the UK thought about it but there was strong feeling against the prospect and the cost was an added off-putting factor.

There are now just four European countries which still drive on the left - the UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta.

The countries that drive on the left

Europe

Cyprus

Guernsey (Crown dependency of the United Kingdom)

Ireland

Dublin

Isle of Man (Crown dependency of the United Kingdom)

Jersey (Crown dependency of the United Kingdom)

Malta

United Kingdom

Asia

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei

East Timor

Hong Kong

India

Indonesia

Japan

Macau

Malaysia

Maldives

Nepal

Pakistan

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Africa

Botswana

Kenya

Lesotho

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Seychelles

South Africa

South African honeymoon
South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Australia and Oceania

Australia

Christmas Island (Australia)

Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)

Cook Islands (New Zealand)

Fiji

Kiribati

Nauru

New Zealand

Niue

Norfolk Island (Australia)

Papua New Guinea

Pitcairn Islands (UK Overseas Territory)

Solomon Islands

Samoa (since September 1, 2009)

Tokelau (New Zealand)

Tonga

Tuvalu

South America

Guyana

Suriname

West Indies

Anguilla (UK Overseas Territory)

Antigua and Barbuda

Bahamas

Barbados

British Virgin Islands (UK Overseas Territory)

Cayman Islands (UK Overseas Territory)

Dominica

Grenada

Jamaica

Jamaica

Montserrat (UK Overseas Territory)

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

Turks and Caicos Islands (UK Overseas Territory)

US Virgin Islands (USA)

Islands of the Atlantic Ocean

Bermuda (UK Overseas Territory)

Falkland Islands (UK Overseas Territory)

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (UK Overseas Territory)

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK Overseas Territory)

Islands of the Indian Ocean

Maldives

Mauritius

Seychelles

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