Why Do The English Drive On The Wrong Side?

The British have been driving on the left side of the road since the days of knights. They would ride on the left side of the road so that their sword was closer to any threats that they would encounter on the road. Most people are right-handed so it makes sense to draw the sword with the right hand.

Funny enough as Americans, we like to be different and because the British were driving on the left, we decided we would drive on the right.

The United Kingdom is not the only country driving on the left, there are about 65 countries around the world that drive on the left including Japan, Australia, Cyprus, the Bahamas, India and New Zealand.

During my research for this blog, I found that the there may be a reduced amount of accidents in countries that drive on the left side of the road compared to those that drive on the right side. The reason for this most people are right eye dominant and the oncoming traffic comes from the right. Also the driver always has their right-hand on the steering wheel even in a manual using their left hand to shift which is generally the strongest hand.

For more information, go here.

All the Best!

American to Britain