Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
WHY DO THEY DRIVE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE ROAD IN UK?
RHT is used in 163 countries and territories, with the remaining 76 countries and territories using LHT.
This ‘keep to the left’ rule was officially sanctioned in 1300 AD when Pope Boniface VIII declared that all pilgrims travelling to Rome should keep to the left.
This continued until the late 1700s when large wagons became popular in Canada and the US, and the first keep-to-the-right law was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, with many Canadian and US states following suit later.
In France a decree of 1792 ordered traffic to keep to the “common” right and Napoleon later enforced the rule in all French territories.
WHY DO THEY DRIVE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE ROAD IN ENGLAND?
.
Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left).
It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.
In the past, roads were not safe and people had to be ready for an attack any moment when travelling.
As around 85-90% of humans are right-handed, passing on the right-hand side would leave people more open to an attack. Though keeping to the left you could get a good swing at your assailants.
Taking the left hand side in traffic is a habit that goes back hundreds of years, possibly as far as the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans.