Driving on the right.....could we switch?

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 12:56
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - barney100

This is just for a bit of fun but if for some reason we had to switch to driving on the right....as the Swedes did.....could we actually do it?

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:08
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - dacouch

That would be letting Napoleon win

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:14
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - RT

Of course we could - if our lives depended on it - but the waste of money would be collossal.

If it's done at the design stage, it's no more expensive to build RHD cars as LHD.

Anyway, what's the point - millions of Brits cope with driving on the wrong side on holiday and thousands of foreign truck drivers cope with driving on the correct side when they're here.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:34
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Andrew-T

We could do what the Irish suggested many years ago - the buses could do it for an experimental period :-)

And then Canada and the States agreed to convert to metric distances, but the Yanks chickened out at the last minute leaving Canada to go it alone.

It would cost a lot and cause enormous inconvenience during the changeover, for very little benefit except when we drive abroad.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:45
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - RT

Perversely, the US Mail takes advantage of RHD cars for mail deliveries - as most properties have a post box at the main road access point, it saves the postie getting out of the car - Subaru Outbacks are popular for this role.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:48
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - jc2

So did the German Post Office.VW Beetles with one seat!

Edited by jc2 on 25/08/2013 at 13:49

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:51
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - jc2

We could have done it in the 1940/50's but not now.Still about half the world is with us.Mainly what used to be in red on the map.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 13:59
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - RT

According to Wikipedia, 74 countries with 33% of world population drive on the left - against 166 countries and 67% of population.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 14:17
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Sofa Spud

In an ideal world all countries would have agreed to drive on the same side of the road at the dawn of the motor age - however the 'rule of the road' probably already existed in most places during the horse era too.

But now a changeover would be far too costly and disruptive.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 25/08/2013 at 14:18

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 14:23
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - idle_chatterer

According to Wikipedia, 74 countries with 33% of world population drive on the left - against 166 countries and 67% of population.

It's an island - it doesn't matter.

Living and working in the southern hemisphere having 'moved here' via Asia I'd say that rather more people drive on the left than you might imagine from a European (or American) perspective. India, Thailand, Hong Kong & Macau (OK they're small), Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan all resolutely drive on the left.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of the total number of cars on the road worldwide are RHD perhaps ? It might still be less than 50% or course but I wonder whether it matches the 1/3rd : 2/3rds split cited from Wikipedia.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 15:25
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Ordovices

Just spent a couple of weeks in Europe. I tried to convert them to driving on the left quite a few times. It didn't work though. Luckily, I had the "Old Bat Nav" to remind me we were in Johnny Foreigners backyard and despite how uncivilised it is to drive on the right, we should respect their idiosyncrasies.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 15:52
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - jc2

I only ever got it wrong once in the EU;driving up a narrow single lane-a car came towards me and I instinctively swerved left-the French car coming towards me went even further into a field!!

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 16:24
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - alastairq

It could be done..but better to do it in stages?

Over a period of several months?

Lorries and buses could move over to the right during one month...cars and bikes move over during the next month....

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 16:55
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

Since most people have a dominant right hand side (eyes, hand and feet), RHD and driving on the left make more sense. Your dominant eye gauges oncoming traffic, and your dominant arm stays on the steering wheel. Even left hand drive cars retain the ABC pedal arrangement so that delicate operations are done wiith the right foot whilst the left just does the in-out clutch work.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 22:37
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Ordovices

I believe that the EU is about to bring about action to outlaw dominant eyes, arms and feet in the quest for true equality and unbiased stereo vision.

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Mon 26 Aug 2013 00:15
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Andrew-T

Even left hand drive cars retain the ABC pedal arrangement so that delicate operations are done wiith the right foot whilst the left just does the in-out clutch work.

Does this mean that left-handed people are intrinsically clumsier drivers?

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Mon 26 Aug 2013 00:18
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Bobbin Threadbare

Even left hand drive cars retain the ABC pedal arrangement so that delicate operations are done wiith the right foot whilst the left just does the in-out clutch work.

Does this mean that left-handed people are intrinsically clumsier drivers?

What about people who happen to be blind in one eye? I don't think this is equal opportunities at all!

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 21:43
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Smileyman

Hell No! - I've sat in the car with SWMBO driving and that's enough worry without asking her to sit on the other side of the car / drive on the other side of the road.

Seriously, I think it would be carnage on the roads, the accident rate would increase significantly and the cost in adapting roads, signs etc etc would be tremendous. Add to this the cost of new sat nav's to cope with the revised road layouts / one way systems etc. We can look at Sweden (and possibly Nigeria where I think they switched to drive on the right some years ago) and be sure such a change in the UK would more costly, complex and deadly.

I've driven extensively in Europe (in my own and hired cars) and North America and I've only ever made two mistakes ..... firstly in Gibraltar in my own car when I forgot they drive on the right, and once exiting a petrol station in Dover, when, in a moment of tiredness I forgot I was back home and did not keep left. Neither were more than momentary lapses thankfully.

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 22:44
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Ed V

My father said that they drive in the middle in Ireland............

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Sun 25 Aug 2013 22:49
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - focussed

And in Malta they drive in the shade!

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Mon 26 Aug 2013 23:34
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - barney100

And in Malta they drive in the shade!

Yes they do, Maltese friend of mine told me that before we went one year.... more fool me for not listening. It's the most hairaisng place to drive I have ever been yet they manage fine.....scared me to death. I have never been so glad to hand a hire car back. It is the only place I have ever seen a bus driver give a police driver a telling off for blocking his way and he wasn't at all polite.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 00:02
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Bobbin Threadbare

And in Malta they drive in the shade!

Yes they do, Maltese friend of mine told me that before we went one year.... more fool me for not listening. It's the most hairaisng place to drive I have ever been yet they manage fine.....scared me to death. I have never been so glad to hand a hire car back. It is the only place I have ever seen a bus driver give a police driver a telling off for blocking his way and he wasn't at all polite.

Try being on a coach tour of Malta aged 8. Terrifying and exciting! I was almost disappointed when I went to Tunisia aged 10 and they drove in a slightly less crazy way.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 00:09
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - bathtub tom

And in Malta they drive in the shade!

They also seem to automatically use the RH lane on any bit of the rare dual carriageways they've got (a bit like this country). Nevertheless, undertaking doesn't seem to bother them.

It's where I learned it!

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Mon 26 Aug 2013 13:27
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - MrEckerslikefromRamsbottom

Yes...

We drive on the left side, which is the right side..

They drive on the right side, which is the wrong side...

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Mon 26 Aug 2013 20:45
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - alastairq

I've noticed an increasing tendency of..''any side will do''...

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Mon 26 Aug 2013 20:59
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

I've noticed an increasing tendency of..''any side will do''...

Yup-I'm one of them. Nothing wrong with using all of the road when there is space to do so. It might be a bit disconcerting to the Blue Rinse Brigade, but it's a sensible thing to do.

Drifting over to the right can increase visibility around corners and reduces the amount of speed scrubbed off through cornering.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 00:44
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - alastairq

Drifting over to the right can increase visibility around corners and reduces the amount of speed scrubbed off through cornering.

Helps if such drivers actually spot the oncoming vehicle? Personally, whilst I make full use of my side of the carriageway, I will not use the other side of the centre line is clearly marked, unless I have to for overtaking.
However, if on a road with no centre marking [by design, rather than due to maintenance]...then I am happy to use the full width of tarmac....passing oncoming vehicles right side to right...... So far this past week [I'm out on the roads all day most days] I have had no less than 7 oncoming vehicles drift fully over to my side without the driver being aware. Now, the sort of vehicles I ride around in, one doesn't want to hit head-on.....and I only end up supervising sorting the resultant mess out. Got better things to do, I have!

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 01:12
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

Personally, whilst I make full use of my side of the carriageway, I will not use the other side of the centre line is clearly marked, unless I have to for overtaking.
However, if on a road with no centre marking [by design, rather than due to maintenance]...then I am happy to use the full width of tarmac

So if there's a centre line you'll keep left, but if there isn't, you won't?! What about judgement?

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 08:25
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - alastairq

So if there's a centre line you'll keep left, but if there isn't, you won't?! What about judgement?

If the carriageway is narrow enough to not warrant a centre line...ie, a definitive marking denoting the centre..or defining the opposing carriagways..then the 'centre' of the road is an arbitrary notion...one is not 'one side or the other'....so-called 'judgement' is as variable as the individuals making that judgement. Opposing traffic must 'meet & pass safely'....

Someone driving an over-bloated 4x4 fashion wagon may well consider the 'centre' to be to the right of their driver's door.....and oncoming driver may take a different view?

If a collision occured, to argue one driver was 'on the wrong side' won't work..as who is to say exactly where thecentre of the tarmac is? Especially if the edge of the carriageway is ill-defined? [HRH Prince Charles once 'got off', so to speak, in Court after just such a collision, on that very basis]

On a wider carriageway, where the centre [ie, dividion between opposing traffic flows] is clearly marked [white lines, or whatever]...then I solely use my own side....this is out of deference to the fact that the other side is someone else's road, not mine....lane discipline, if you like? And, if my vehicle is wide enough that I need to use someone else's bit of road, the over-riding factor is the need for me to 'give way' to any opposing traffic.

Something Advanced driver Courses seem to make little of is 'perception'...ie, how other drivers, or road users, view oneself, and what one is doing?

IMHO it is important for a driver to avoid giving the impression to others that they are not going to get out of the way...or, not leave room to pass?

In other words, it doesn't matter what you yourself think and know , but rather, what the other driver thinks...?

If an oncoming driver , on seeing us, feels the need to take some evasive action because of what we are seen to be doing....it is irrelevant that we ourselves know no conflict would occur. It is how our actions are perceived by others.

Hence...as I said, where the carriageway is defined by road markings, I keep my [car/bike] to my side....in any event, I can see what I need to see from my side, without heading across the centre line into tarmac which isn't mine.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 09:10
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - RT

On many roads, the omission of the centre line is deliberate by the highway authority to reduce speeds - in OS map terms, excluding the very narrow yellow roads (normally less than 4m wide) all the other minor roads are passable by two normal vehicles even if no centre white line is present.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 14:01
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - davecooper

Not sure if it is because I am left handed but I find driving on the right feels more natural...and that's after 35 years driving in the UK!

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 15:40
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

then I solely use my own side....this is out of deference to the fact that the other side is someone else's road, not mine....lane discipline, if you like?

I don't really comprehend your logic. I would argue that driving on the left means that oncoming traffic passes on your right hand side. As long as this rule is maintained, it is fine to use all the road.

I've never seen a driver refuse an invitation to use 'my' side of the road when there is an obstruction on 'their' side of the road.

The sort of drivers that see an oncoming car straightening out a corner as threatening or irresponsible are the sort of unaware drivers that pull out of junctions in front of an oncoming car (even when there is a perfectly reasonable gap behind that car). Having forced the driver with priority to slow down they compound the sin by making no effort to accelerate. They clutch the wheel at 10-to-2, change gear religiously at 2500RPM and obdurately trundle along at a fixed speed oblivious to their surroundings thinking they are safe and responsible. They are nothing of the sort. They drive slowly because they are slow-witted and selfish.

If I cause alarm to these people I cannot pretend to be sorry.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 21:44
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - alastairq

The sort of drivers that see an oncoming car straightening out a corner as threatening or irresponsible are the sort of unaware drivers that pull out of junctions in front of an oncoming car (even when there is a perfectly reasonable gap behind that car). Having forced the driver with priority to slow down they compound the sin by making no effort to accelerate. They clutch the wheel at 10-to-2, change gear religiously at 2500RPM and obdurately trundle along at a fixed speed oblivious to their surroundings thinking they are safe and responsible. They are nothing of the sort. They drive slowly because they are slow-witted and selfish.

That is a presumption, which suggests to me a need for more driver training?

The lack of tolerance for the varying levels of competence and understanding to be found across the board in all road users suggests an inappropriate attitude towards driving, and interfacing with others on the road.

Being the cause of unwarranted alarm...isn't very clever....and may lead to being held accountable for the mishaps of another.

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Tue 27 Aug 2013 22:25
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - barney100

'straightening the corner out' in the face of an oncoming car would cause alarm at close quarters. In fact my neighbour's daughter was forced off the road by such an action resulting in her car being written off. I agree with Alastairq's comments.

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Wed 28 Aug 2013 11:57
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

That is a presumption, which suggests to me a need for more driver training?

The irony of that senentence is intentiuonal, right?

I don't think more training would help revise my view since the opnion is based upon empirical observations .


The lack of tolerance for the varying levels of competence and understanding to be found across the board in all road users

That's why you can buy Driving Licences in Sainsbury's? Oh wait, you can't. That's because a candidate must demonstrate that their driving meerts a mimimum standard before being granted a full driving licence. So I don't feel compelled to tolerate driving that falls far below test standard. They shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

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Wed 28 Aug 2013 12:07
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Collos25

That is a presumption, which suggests to me a need for more driver training?

The irony of that senentence is intentiuonal, right?

I don't think more training would help revise my view since the opnion is based upon empirical observations .


The lack of tolerance for the varying levels of competence and understanding to be found across the board in all road users

That's why you can buy Driving Licences in Sainsbury's? Oh wait, you can't. That's because a candidate must demonstrate that their driving meerts a mimimum standard before being granted a full driving licence. So I don't feel compelled to tolerate driving that falls far below test standard. They shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

Nice to hear from a perfect driver who has never made a mistake.

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Wed 28 Aug 2013 12:45
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

Nice to hear from a perfect driver who has never made a mistake.

On this forum I've freely admitted to many driving errors. My driving is far from perfect but it is at least of a standard where I can recognise my mistakes. The problem with these trundlers is that they don't think they have a problem.

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Wed 28 Aug 2013 18:25
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - alastairq

My driving is far from perfect but it is at least of a standard where I can recognise my mistakes. The problem with these trundlers is that they don't think they have a problem.

Are you sure?

After all, being able to cope comfortably with the mistakes [deliberate, or borne out of ignorance doesn't matter] of others is a basic requirement of all driving tests.

If a driver carries out a course of action which makes another think they are at risk.......and thus feels the need to take evasive action, then the initiating driver has committed one of several offences...and shouldn't be allowed to retain their licence {IMHO]

Why should I, a driver with proven skill [proven, as in , required to demonstrate skill levels at regular intervals]....tolerate your driving attitude on the roads?

Why should I care if I see you coming, and decide to drive as a novice, do something totally unexpected, and pop you into the ditch? I would 'get away with it'...but you would feel agrieved indeed.

Why isn't your standard of driving at the same level as mine? [consistently]

For that really is the criteria you apply to other road users.

It is to be hoped I am not as intolerant of your inevitable mistakes should we ever meet on the public highway?

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Wed 28 Aug 2013 23:26
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - unthrottled

If a driver carries out a course of action which makes another think they are at risk.......and thus feels the need to take evasive action, then the initiating driver has committed one of several offences...and shouldn't be allowed to retain their licence {IMHO]

Only if the initiating driver gave reasonable cause for the other party to take evasive action. I don't feel under any obligation to take responsibility for others' unfounded paranoia. I have not been involved in any collisions (fault or non-fault) and have a clean licence. I have a perfectly amicable relationship with most road users and frequently yield priority for the benefit of other drivers. Furthermore I own up to my own mistakes and will tolerate errors from other drivers. I am satisfied that when I criticise a driver, the criticism is well justified.



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Wed 28 Aug 2013 01:37
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Smileyman

I've hired car in Malta, and have heard of the 'drive in the shade rule' .... I had no problems, but I've also driven in Spain & Italy so maybe I've just experienced worse (or perhaps the Maltese way just suits my style of driving too!!)

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Wed 4 Sep 2013 18:58
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - markweatherill

We are now in the year 2013 and still, as I understand it, some way off from having flying cars as we were promised, which would resolve this thorny problem. Come on scientists!

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Wed 4 Sep 2013 19:41
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Bobbin Threadbare

We are now in the year 2013 and still, as I understand it, some way off from having flying cars as we were promised, which would resolve this thorny problem. Come on scientists!

Sorry, I know I filed the flying car plans somewhere...!

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Thu 5 Sep 2013 18:12
Driving on the right.....could we switch? - Duncan112

Some years ago American Samoa changed from driving on the right to driving on the left so they could take advantage of the second hand Japanese cars that are prevelant round the Pacific. (Leave aside for the moment the islanders "any side will do" attitude, driving in Samoa is, shall we say an experience).

First problem came when the US style school buses pulled up adjacent to the kerb on the right side of the road and disgorged their contents into the melee of drivers unsure of which side of the road they were meant to be driving on in their betel nut fuelled haze.....

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