Why do the British drive on the left?

[Bayard]

Quite interesting.

[malaise]

1. Very

We drive on the left in the English-speaking Caribbean

[Roland99]

2. "Fascinating"

[gibraltar72]

3. I actually knew this.

[yonder]

4. Interesting. Thanks

[IcyPeas]

5. the driving part is not so bad.... but

don't get me started on roundabouts. I only ever rented a car in Britain once and I hated roundabouts. I even watched youtube videos about how to do it properly (there are lots of videos on this topic, apparently I'm not the only one). It was sort of a bummer because I was so hesitant to drive anywhere.

[KatyMan]

6. They're great once you get the hang of them.

Although we did live there for about seven years so had plenty of time.
I wish we had them here.

[virgogal]

9. Rotaries are here,lots of them.

[lagomorph777]

13. They are sprouting around here (Mid-Atlantic region)

[karynnj]

23. We grew to really like the roundabouts

When we knew which exit to take, they smoothly moved us where we needed to go. However, the first time we drove in the UK before GPS navigators were available, we found they were forgiving when we suddenly came to one and did not know which way to go. My husband just circled until I figured out the right exit to take.

A few weird intersections locally were redesigned as roundabouts - and it helps.

[DFW]

7. Sweden was one of the last to switch in western Europe

When I first visited in 1970, they had just switched over, they told me.

I have only driven in a country where they drive on the left once. No one told me, or I never would have rented a car in advance. I got into it with my then-girlfriend (now wife), and immediately nearly cause several fatal accidents, with the fatalities being us, since I was headed straight for a head-on collision with city buses. This was in Mahé in the Seychelles. The city, Victoria, had streets wide enough for two vehicles. Outside of the city, the roads did not. I got used to it, but very nearly did not live to. It was nice, but there's no way, no how I'm EVER going to rent a car in the UK or Japan.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. I was in awe of Sweden's switch. How the heck ...?

But it seemed to happen with no great loss of life. Stunning.

If we tried it here, Trump would probably want to phase it in: cars one week, trucks the next.

[DFW]

10. LOL!!

That would be some typical Republican planning alright.

Stockholm might have been a mess for a few days, but my first stay there was with friends out in Eskilstuna and Örebro. Those places were so wide open, people had room to get used to the switch without having a thousand oncoming cars to smash into them. Had it been Italy, the population would probably have suffered an instant 4% reduction in the first week.

[cojoel]

12. They apparently changed the direction of all of the one-way streets in Stockholm with this change

My brother has a friend from there who went back regularly, including shortly before and shortly after the switch. She said that was more confusing than the change to the other side of the road on two-way streets.

[miyazaki]

16. Thankfully the public transport in Japan is so good.

Don't need to drive at all, so I rarely miss it. Most people there don't own cars anyway.

[MoonlitKnight]

11. Let's keep driving to the right

And start voting to the left.

[lagomorph777]

14. You're right!

[krispos42]

15. Ever notice that the only places that drive on the left...

...are either islands or faraway, isolated countries?

[Celerity]

17. or not

Blue are LHT

Over 2.5 billion people

[krispos42]

18. Lots of islands there, and geographically isolated areas too

Although I had forgotten about India.

[Celerity]

19. 90% plus of that over 2.5 billion are not on islands

geographically isolated

is a matter of perspective as well

middle America is geographically isolated to someone in China, or India

[krispos42]

20. Last time I checked India was called a "subcontinent" for a reason

A chain of 5-mile-high mountains surrounds a lot of it, and oceans most of the rest. Hardly conductive to ground transportation.

Regardless, most of the countries that do it, per your own map, are islands.

[Celerity]

21. like I said, the vast majority of of that 2.5 plus billion are not on islands, I stand fully by my

post

cheers

[krispos42]

22. You're dodging my point that you tried and failed to refute

Actually, you would up reinforcing it.

[Celerity]

24. no, I think I defended my point quite well, sorry nt

[krispos42]

26. "Or not"

Was your response to me. Then you post a map showing LHD on the Indian subcontinent (mostly surrounded by tallest mountains in the world, or ocean), the southwest portion of Africa, and more islands than I can count.

[MineralMan]

25. Even though we drive on the right here,

I once bought a used USPS right-hand-drive International Scout. The driver's seat was on the right. That was so mail delivery people could put the mail in rural mailboxes, which were on the right side of the vehicle.

I sort of loved that little mail scout. I got it cheap and used it in my handyman business at the time. it had no passenger seat, so I could load longer lumber into the left-side of the little truck. it took a little time to get used to sitting on the wrong side of the car, but I got comfortable with it. Since the Scout was underpowered, i never really had to pass anyone. Later, I also owned a 1959 Austin Mini that had been imported from England. I got that cheaply, too, since most people wouldn't buy a right-hand-drive car.

I have never driven in a place that drives on the left, though, and probably wouldn't rent a car in any of those places.

[Shermann]

27. The UK has it right

Driving on the left is demonstrably advantageous when wielding a sword. While swordplay is generally the exception for today's road rager, this same built-in advantage crosses over to firearms. If you are brandishing your pistol on the highway trying to make your point, it would be preferable to steer with your left hand while blasting with your right.

[Mendocino]

28. The US Virgin Islands

drive on the left. The vehicles are standard left-hand sided. The roads there are narrow for the most part and with a lack of signage. Makes for interesting driving.