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> Left and Right Hand Traffic
Terminology a
country’s traffic is based on right hand drive (RHD) or left hand
drive (LHD) rules of the road, i.e., the one side of the road where
traffic flows. Countries have right-hand traffic or left-hand traffic.
However, traffic-handedness is sometimes referring to the placement
of the steering wheel and driver’s seat within the vehicles. This
is the terminology which is basically the base why we can call some
countries left-hand drive (LHD) OR right-hand drive (RHD). In most scenarios,
the place of the steering wheel is opposed to the rule of the road.
There have been big markets (such as some Caribbean islands, and Sweden
before 1967 change from LHT to RHT) that use mostly LH-drive vehicles
with LH-traffic
Right Hand Traffic
• The traffic coming from front is seen coming from the left.
• You can not turn left until you cross oncoming traffic
• Traffic sign are on the right-hand side of the road
• Traffic runs anticlockwise on the roundabouts
• When crossing the two roads you must see on the left to cross
the first road.
• Vehicles have a left-hand driver’s position.
Left-Hand Traffic
• The traffic coming from front is seen coming from the right
side.
• You can not turn right until you cross oncoming traffic
• Traffic sign are on the left-hand side of the road
• Traffic runs clockwise on the roundabouts
• When crossing the two roads you must see on the right to cross
the first road.
• Vehicles have a right-hand driver’s position.
Miscellaneous facts and Myths
One third of the quarter in the world’s traffic travels on the
left-hand side. Some claim that having traffic on the right side is
good, although such thoughts occur in almost all populations, regardless
of which side of the road is used. In any case, the actual need is to
gain ease while driving and self defense on roads like most horse riders
keep to their left when encountering oncoming wayfarers, so as to use
their swords or other weapon more comfortably and effectively.
This is the point where everyone is agreed that the left hand traffic
is a singularly British custom, the corollary being that the rest of
the world “naturally” keeps to the right when meeting.
It is commonly asserted that left-hand traffic is a singularly British
custom, the corollary being that the rest of the world "naturally"
keeps to the right when meeting. The historical record suggests otherwise.
(See "Places of Interest" section below.) Prior to World War
I, countries observing the left-hand rule included parts of Canada,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, parts of Austria, Sweden, Iceland, Argentina,
Uruguay, Paraguay, parts of Brazil, parts of Chile, parts of Italy,
China, the Philippines, and Burma. Italy changed when Benito Mussolini
came to power, Austria and Czechoslovakia when Adolf Hitler annexed
or occupied them, the Latin American countries by 1945, the Philippines
and China in 1946 (leaving Hong Kong and Macau isolated), and Burma/Myanmar
in 1970 on the advice of a soothsayer.
Some Commonwealth of Nations countries and other former British colonies
— notably Hong Kong — continue to drive on the left, but
others, such as Canada, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the
United States switched to the other side.
Apart from former British colonies, most countries' traffic now moves
on the right hand side. Exceptions are Indonesia, Suriname, Japan, Thailand,
Mozambique, East Timor, Macau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
One frequently hears the story that Napoleon changed the rule of the
road in the countries he conquered from keep-left to keep-right. The
justifications mentioned are usually symbolic, such as that Napoleon
himself was left- (or right-) handed, or that Britain, Napoleon's enemy,
kept left. This story has never been shown to have a factual basis and
it appears to be a legend; Peter Kincaid concludes so in his book on
the rule of the road (pp. 14, 99-100). More research is needed on European
rule-of-the-road legislation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Research in 1969 by J.J. Leeming showed that countries that drive on
the left had a lower accident rate than countries that drive on the
right, but this research is questioned in Peter Kincaid's book on the
rule of the road. Some countries that have switched to driving on the
right (such as Sweden) saw their long term accident rates increase by
more than any increase in traffic volumes[citation needed]. It has been
suggested, but not proven, that this is partly because it is more common
to be right-eye dominant. Traffic flows in a clockwise direction when
driving on the left which enables right eyed people to use the right
eye to see oncoming traffic. When overtaking on a right-side-driving
road, the right-eyed driver looks in the wing mirror with the left eye
and also views the oncoming traffic with the left eye which is not suited
to the majority right-eyed people.
Changing sides at borders
The Change of traffic directions at the Laos–Thai border takes
place on Lao territory just off the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge.
Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge.
There are many instances of traffic having to change sides at border
crossings, such as at those between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Laos and
Thailand, Sudan and Uganda. Thailand is particularly notable in the
context of border crossings, as it is the only sizeable country that
has nearly all of its borders with countries that drive on the opposite
side. It drives on the left, but 90% (4,357 km or 2,707 miles) of its
borders are with countries that drive on the right, with only Malaysia
driving on the left since Myanmar (Burma) changed from driving on the
left to driving on the right in 1970.
Many borders are formed from natural barriers such as mountains or rivers,
and this is particularly true of borders where traffic changes sides
of the road, especially in Asia. These natural barriers make the number
of border crossings much lower than would otherwise be the case. Furthermore,
given their remoteness, most mountain border crossings have relatively
low traffic volumes and so changing sides of the road is even less of
an issue.
The four most common ways of switching traffic from one side
to the other at borders are:
• Traffic lights. Examples are:
• Friendship Bridge between Thailand and Laos, change takes place
on Lao side
• Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, between Thailand and
Laos, change takes place on Thai side
• Friendship Bridge between Thailand (Mae Sot) and Myanmar (Myawaddy)
• New bridge between Thailand (Mae Sai) and Myanmar (opened in
2006)
• Crossover bridges. Examples are:
• Lok Ma Chau between Hong Kong and mainland China
• Lotus Bridge between Macau and mainland China
• Border roads intersect with roundabouts or other one-way traffic
systems. Examples are:
• Man Kam To between Hong Kong and mainland China
• Land border between Macau and mainland China
• No automatic infrastructure (signposts and directions only),
most commonly found at borders with low vehicular traffic volumes. Examples
are:
• Poipet between Thailand and Cambodia
• Old bridge between Thailand (Mae Sai) and Myanmar
• Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China
Changing the rule
The most common reason for countries to switch to driving on the right
is for conformity with neighbours, as it increases the safety of cross-border
traffic. For example, former British colonies in Africa, such as Gambia,
Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Ghana, have all changed from left- to right-hand
traffic, as they all share borders with former French colonies, which
drive on the right. The former Portuguese colony of Mozambique has always
driven on the left, as all its neighbours are former British colonies.
Decisions by countries to drive on the right typically concern conformity
and uniformity rather than practical reasons. There are historical exceptions,
such as postilion riders in France, but such historical advantages do
not apply to modern road vehicles.
In the former British Crown colony of Hong Kong and the former Portuguese
enclave of Macau, traffic continues to drive on the left, unlike in
mainland China, despite the fact that they are now its Special Administrative
Regions. On the other hand, Taiwan, formerly under Japanese rule, changed
to driving on the right in 1946 after the government of the Republic
of China assumed administration; the same happened in Korea (both North
and South), a former Japanese colony under U.S. and Soviet occupation.
However, some trains in Seoul, as well as pedestrian traffic in the
subway system, still keep to the left.
Foreign occupation and military transit
Many countries have temporarily or permanently changed their rule of
the road as a result of foreign occupation. Recent examples include
Austria, Czechoslovakia (details) and Hungary under German rule or military
transit in the 1930s and '40s. The Channel Islands also changed to driving
on the right under German occupation, but changed back after liberation
in 1945. The Falkland Islands did the same under Argentine control during
the 1982 Falklands War. (Although the Argentine government officially
ordered the islanders to drive on the right, they often drove on the
left to assert their defiance to occupation.) East Timor changed to
driving on the left under Indonesian rule in 1976, and continues the
practice as an independent state. The Japanese region of Okinawa changed
from left to right under U.S. occupation; after the occupation ended,
it changed back to driving on the left to match the rest of Japan.
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