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Why do countries have different hand drives?
Filed Under (Culture & Traditions) by admin on 21-01-2009
Tagged Under : culture of driving, different hand drives, drive left side, drive right side, left hand drive country, left hand drives, lefthand driving, right hand drive country, right hand drives, righthand driving, traditional information
Most people in former British colonies drive on the left side of the road, but in the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side. In olden days, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left so that their right arm would be nearer to their opponent and their scabbard further from him.
Transportation changed in the late 1700s as teamsters in France and the US began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver’s seat and the driver sat on the left rear horse so that he could keep his arm free to whip the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally preferred to be passed on the left so he could have a clear view. This made him keep to the right side of the road. Also, due to the French Revolution of 1789, right-hand travel got a boost. Before the Revolution, the nobility preferred traveling on the left side of the road, forcing the peasantry to take the right. However, after storming of the Bastille and subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right.
