Left Hand Drive

Rehaan · 27th July 2004, 03:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (aadix @ July 26 2004,22:17)]why was rhs chosen at first place??

Hey Aadix,

Back on FI i remember V12 posting an article on this issue.

I seem to remember it stating that we happen to stay on the left of the road since, keeping in mind a huge majority of the population is right handed, on the good old days of horseback transport it was easier to draw your sword and use it with your right hand, against the person approaching you on the other side of the road on your right! Hence LHS of the road it is.

R

ajmat · 27th July 2004, 09:43

Sweden was RHD but in 1967 they switched over, they actually subsidised rhd conversions since population was low. Similarly, Nigeria did the same in the 1970's, since most of its neighboring countries were lhd - god knows how they did it. I think it is a bit later for us now and they is no reason as 1: we make our own cars, 2: our neighbours drive in a similar fashion, 3: why the hell should the nation spend croroes in switching in order for a few individuals to get some cool cars !

v12 · 27th July 2004, 12:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Left Hand Drive, Should we switch to left hand drive?

Right is Right!!Left is Wrong!!

GrimReaper · 27th July 2004, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (v12 @ July 27 2004,15:36)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Left Hand Drive, Should we switch to left hand drive?

Right is Right!!Left is Wrong!! *

Driving on the RIGHT SIDE IS RIGHT and Driving on the LEFT SIDE IS WRONG!!!!!!!! AFTER ALL RIGHT IS RIGHT!

Anyways regarding about how it all started I would've guessed that it was due to the britishers since thy infact were RHD all the time and as you see most of the places they left are RHD apart from America obviously :P This I am not sure about though. Just my thinking

v12 · 27th July 2004, 12:19

Heres the reason why we drive on the Left :

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies.

This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; however, there is a perfectly good reason.

Up to the late 1700's, everybody travelled on the left side of the road because it's the sensible option for feudal, violent societies of mostly right-handed people.

Jousting knights with their lances under their right arm naturally passed on each other's right, and if you passed a stranger on the road you walked on the left to ensure that your protective sword arm was between yourself and him.

Revolutionary France, however, overturned this practice as part of its sweeping social rethink. A change was carried out all over continental Europe by Napoleon.The reason it changed under Napoleon was because he was left handed his armies had to march on the right so he could keep his sword arm between him and any opponent.

From then on, any part of the world which was at some time part of the British Empire was thus left hand and any part colonised by the French was right hand.

In America, the French colonised the southern states (Louisiana for instance) and the Canadian east coast (Quebec). The Dutch colonised New York (or New Amsterdam). The Spanish and Portugese colonised the southern Americas. So The British were a minority in shaping the 'traffic'.

The drive-on-the-right policy was adopted by the USA, which was anxious to cast off all remaining links with its British colonial past

Once America drove on the right, left-side driving was ultimately doomed. If you wanted a good reliable vehicle, you bought American, for a period they only manufactured right-hand-drive cars.

From then on many countries changed out of necessity.

Today, the EC would like Britain to fall into line with the rest of Europe, but this is no longer possible. It would cost billions of pounds to change everything round.

The last European country to convert to driving on the right was Sweden in 1967. While everyone was getting used to the new system, they paid more attention and took more care, resulting in a reduction of the number of road accident casualties.

Countries that drive on the LEFT include:-

Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Bermuda
Bhutan
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
US Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands *Channel Islands
Cyprus
Dominica
England
Falkland Islands
Fiji
Gambia
Grenada
Ghana
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Isle of Man *
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Lesotho
Macau
Malawi
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Montserrat
Mozambique Pakistan
Namibia
Nepal
New Zealand *Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Seychelles
Scotland
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St Kitts & Nevis
St. Helena
St. Lucia
Surinam
Swaziland *Tanzania
Thailand
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
St. Vincent & Grenadines
Wales

Source : Formula India : Why do we drive on the left? Heres the answer!

_Crazi4Speed_ · 27th July 2004, 12:31

I agree we should have but we cant and hence I gave a easier solution than changing the system, in my earlier post..I think that could be easily accomodated, the only reason LHD was irradicated was anti dumping laws, which should technically not apply to expensive vehicles, also I really want to know how can we import LHD cars, any way?? any?? at all??

shravan316 · 27th July 2004, 22:48

Nice info v12....good read.
Some important piece of history for petrol heads!!

_Crazi4Speed_ · 28th July 2004, 00:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (GrimReaper @ July 26 2004,22:43)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (v12 @ July 27 2004,15:36)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Left Hand Drive, Should we switch to left hand drive?

Right is Right!!Left is Wrong!! *

Driving on the RIGHT SIDE IS RIGHT and Driving on the LEFT SIDE IS WRONG!!!!!!!! * AFTER ALL RIGHT IS RIGHT!

Anyways regarding about how it all started I would've guessed that it was due to the britishers since thy infact were RHD all the time and as you see most of the places they left are RHD apart from America obviously :P This I am not sure about though. Just my thinking

actually its LEFT is RIGHT and RIGHT is WRONG

ask any straight guy and he will tell you, how this helps distinguishing..

jk, I am talking about earings...here...

Dippy · 28th July 2004, 01:57

I dont know bout the LHD RHD issue but heres a little funny I did or a couple of days

Since the highway is jammed in the morning , the pandus literally have a Police Qualis drive and guide cars behind it forward in the lane of oncoming traffic so as to ease the traffic in the current direction . Now is that a safety car of what ?

Dippy

Aditya · 28th July 2004, 02:55

In my opinion, it's certainly not worth the effort to switch to LHD. If anything needs to be improved, it's the mindset and discipline of Indian drivers.

speedsatya · 1st November 2004, 15:15

most of our truckers and autorickshaws are already on LHD mode.
i dont think LHD or RHD wud make any difference .

drifter · 1st November 2004, 16:59

Why bother?!?!

what will we do with the tons n tons of RHD cars if we shift to LHDs'.

Like i said before...why bother....jus not worth the effort.

Drifter

normally_crazy · 1st November 2004, 17:24

Guys,

we shud have the steering in the centre...and 2 people on either side waving their hands like crazy if the driver wants to turn left or right !!

this way the rear view mirrors and the turn lights can be taken off making cars cheaper

and there should nnot be footpaths ...and yeah no dividers too !!

jesal · 1st November 2004, 19:13

switch i dont care about but wud b nice if manufacturers gave an option of both.

speedsatya · 2nd November 2004, 01:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (normally_crazy @ Nov. 01 2004,14:54)]Guys,

we shud have the steering in the centre...and 2 people on either side waving their hands like crazy if the driver wants to turn left or right !!

this way the rear view mirrors and the turn lights can be taken off making cars cheaper *

and there should nnot be footpaths ...and yeah no dividers too !!

View Poll Results: Left Hand Drive - Should we switch to left hand drive?
YES!	11	16.67%
Why bother?!	55	83.33%
Voters: 66. You may not vote on this poll

27th July 2004, 09:43	#17
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,866 Thanked: 27,980 Times View My Garage	Sweden was RHD but in 1967 they switched over, they actually subsidised rhd conversions since population was low. Similarly, Nigeria did the same in the 1970's, since most of its neighboring countries were lhd - god knows how they did it. I think it is a bit later for us now and they is no reason as 1: we make our own cars, 2: our neighbours drive in a similar fashion, 3: why the hell should the nation spend croroes in switching in order for a few individuals to get some cool cars !
	() Thanks

27th July 2004, 12:19	#20
v12 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 6,739 Thanked: 7,213 Times View My Garage	Heres the reason why we drive on the Left : About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; however, there is a perfectly good reason. Up to the late 1700's, everybody travelled on the left side of the road because it's the sensible option for feudal, violent societies of mostly right-handed people. Jousting knights with their lances under their right arm naturally passed on each other's right, and if you passed a stranger on the road you walked on the left to ensure that your protective sword arm was between yourself and him. Revolutionary France, however, overturned this practice as part of its sweeping social rethink. A change was carried out all over continental Europe by Napoleon.The reason it changed under Napoleon was because he was left handed his armies had to march on the right so he could keep his sword arm between him and any opponent. From then on, any part of the world which was at some time part of the British Empire was thus left hand and any part colonised by the French was right hand. In America, the French colonised the southern states (Louisiana for instance) and the Canadian east coast (Quebec). The Dutch colonised New York (or New Amsterdam). The Spanish and Portugese colonised the southern Americas. So The British were a minority in shaping the 'traffic'. The drive-on-the-right policy was adopted by the USA, which was anxious to cast off all remaining links with its British colonial past Once America drove on the right, left-side driving was ultimately doomed. If you wanted a good reliable vehicle, you bought American, for a period they only manufactured right-hand-drive cars. From then on many countries changed out of necessity. Today, the EC would like Britain to fall into line with the rest of Europe, but this is no longer possible. It would cost billions of pounds to change everything round. The last European country to convert to driving on the right was Sweden in 1967. While everyone was getting used to the new system, they paid more attention and took more care, resulting in a reduction of the number of road accident casualties. Countries that drive on the LEFT include:- Anguilla Antigua & Barbuda Australia Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Bermuda Bhutan Botswana British Virgin Islands Brunei US Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Channel Islands Cyprus Dominica England Falkland Islands Fiji Gambia Grenada Ghana Hong Kong India Indonesia Ireland Isle of Man Jamaica Japan Kenya Lesotho Macau Malawi Malaysia Malta Mauritius Montserrat Mozambique Pakistan Namibia Nepal New Zealand Pakistan Papua New Guinea Seychelles Scotland Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa Sri Lanka St Kitts & Nevis St. Helena St. Lucia Surinam Swaziland Tanzania Thailand Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe St. Vincent & Grenadines Wales Source : Formula India : Why do we drive on the left? Heres the answer!
	() Thanks

27th July 2004, 12:31	#21
_Crazi4Speed_ BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Shuffling between chicago and delhi Posts: 764 Thanked: 4 Times	I agree we should have but we cant and hence I gave a easier solution than changing the system, in my earlier post..I think that could be easily accomodated, the only reason LHD was irradicated was anti dumping laws, which should technically not apply to expensive vehicles, also I really want to know how can we import LHD cars, any way?? any?? at all??
	() Thanks

27th July 2004, 22:48	#22
shravan316 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,029 Thanked: 9 Times	Nice info v12....good read. Some important piece of history for petrol heads!!
	() Thanks

28th July 2004, 01:57	#24
Dippy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 7,561 Thanked: 2,469 Times	I dont know bout the LHD RHD issue but heres a little funny I did or a couple of days Since the highway is jammed in the morning , the pandus literally have a Police Qualis drive and guide cars behind it forward in the lane of oncoming traffic so as to ease the traffic in the current direction . Now is that a safety car of what ? Dippy
	() Thanks

28th July 2004, 02:55	#25
Aditya Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 17,842 Thanked: 77,081 Times View My Garage	In my opinion, it's certainly not worth the effort to switch to LHD. If anything needs to be improved, it's the mindset and discipline of Indian drivers.
	() Thanks

1st November 2004, 15:15	#26
speedsatya Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: bangalore/manga Posts: 3,169 Thanked: 738 Times View My Garage	most of our truckers and autorickshaws are already on LHD mode. i dont think LHD or RHD wud make any difference .
	() Thanks

1st November 2004, 16:59	#27
drifter Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,488 Thanked: 75 Times View My Garage	Why bother?!?! what will we do with the tons n tons of RHD cars if we shift to LHDs'. Like i said before...why bother....jus not worth the effort. Drifter
	() Thanks

1st November 2004, 17:24	#28
normally_crazy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,369 Thanked: 528 Times View My Garage	Guys, we shud have the steering in the centre...and 2 people on either side waving their hands like crazy if the driver wants to turn left or right !! this way the rear view mirrors and the turn lights can be taken off making cars cheaper and there should nnot be footpaths ...and yeah no dividers too !!
	() Thanks

1st November 2004, 19:13	#29
jesal BANNED Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	switch i dont care about but wud b nice if manufacturers gave an option of both.
	() Thanks