Canada used to drive on the left but changed to the right to make border crossings with the usa more manageable. In which countries are vehicles drivers seats on the. The wagons had no drivers seat, so the typically righthanded postilion held his whip in his. In most countries, people can import cars which are engineered to drive on the wrong side of the road and use them legally on the open road, but this is not always. Whats the penalty for driving a righthanded car in the u. The reasons for driving on different sides of the road are historical. Nearly 75% of countries in the world require drivers to drive on the right side of traffic. This is a summary of countries who drive on the left side of the road. Lefthand traffic lht and righthand traffic rht are the practice, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. Typically, a righthand drive vehicle drives on the left side of the road, or left hand traffic lht. All my pupils find the free highway code practice tests at right driver a great help. The first model with the left steering wheel and the correct drivers seat was the 1908 ford t. Almost always, in countries where one drives on the righthand side of the. The reason isnt the steering wheel location but because of the age.
A photo of a highway in england, showing traffic driving on the left hand side. Typically, a righthand drive vehicle drives on the left side of the road, or lefthand traffic lht. In countries with right side driving, the drivers seat is on the left, while left hand countries have drivers seats on the right. Many early cars had the driver s seat in the center of the car rather than on one side or the other. This is still the position in all horse drawn vehicles where the driver sits on the vehicle rather than on one of the horses. In most countries, cars are set up to put the driver s seat in the centre of the road, to give them improved visibility. Standing on the right, you can give the whip momentum by swinging it backwards along the side of the chariot. Currently around 66% of the worlds population live in countries which drive on the right side of the road, usually but not always in vehicles with the drivers seat.
British horse riders used to ride on the left hand side of the road, thus keeping their right arm. Why some countries drive on the right and some countries. John wilson jw driving tuition i like it that all the questions are there for free, and when i took my actual theory test the questions were virtually identical so i got 5050 on my first go. In lht traffic keeps left, and cars have the steering wheel on the right, putting the driver on the side closest to the centre of the road.
Others have answered the question, but ill give you one exception. This designates what side of the road a driver will stay on. Hello, 78 countries and territories drive on the left side of the road. The other two thirds of the countries in the world drive on the right including the usa, china and russia. The majority of countries now drive on the right, in left hand drive vehicles. A righthanded driver prefers to hold the whip in his right hand. Gradually, car manufactures began putting the seat on one side or the other. Today i found out why some countries drive on the right and some countries drive on the left. In asia bangladesh bhutan brunei east timor hong kong india indonesia japan macau malaysia maldives nepal pakistan singapore sri lank. Why do different countries drive on different sides of the. Throughout the world, countries observe either lefthand traffic lht or righthand traffic rht. Whats the reason behind righthand driving in some countries. The history of left and righthand traffic international driving authority.
Of course, there are cars for left and righthand driving. Almost always, in countries where one drives on the right hand side of the road, the cars are built so that the driver sits on the lefthand side of the car. Conversely, driving on the lefthand side of the road usually implies that the drivers seat is on the righthand side of the car. British horseback riders used to ride on the left hand side of the road. The wagons had no drivers seat, so the typically righthanded postilion held. In asia bangladesh bhutan brunei east timor hong kong india. Conversely, many rht countries were part of the french colonial empire.
Rht is used in 165 countries and territories, with the remaining 75 countries. Guide to which countries drive on the left left hand. That puts the right eye, which tends to be stronger, in a better position to see oncoming traffic. Famously, cars in the uk and ireland drive on the left hand side of the road, with the drivers seat situated in the right.
Although the majority drive on the right, there is no global standard driving system which causes some. In many remaining countries, confusion and vacillation were observed. A fundamental element to traffic flow, it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road. In both cases, the seat positions the driver close to the middle of the road for better visibility. In most countries, cars are set up to put the drivers seat in the centre of the road, to give them improved visibility. In which countries are vehicles drivers seats on the right side. It is illegal to drive a newer right hand drive car in the us.