Well this explains why so many leftist policies end up in head-on collisions that damage our society...they are driving on the wrong side of the road!

Pubic school system? Crash!

Lower lending standards for 'affordable' housing? Crash!

Greater union bargaining power? Crash!

Social Security? Crash!

Medicare? Crash!

HMOs? Crash!

Stimulus plans? Crash!

Cash for clunkers? Crash!

Tobacco taxes for healthcare? Crash!

Lottery taxes for eduation? Crash!

Taxes on the rich? Crash!

Appeasement of dictators? Crash!

And if we let it happen...THIS current healthcare reform? CRASH, CRASH AND A VERY EMPHATIC...CRASH!!!

I think it was circulating during the 1970s: on (such and such date) all trucks in England will drive on the right. If that plan works out, drivers of cars will follow suit on (such and such date).

Kidding aside, isn't the main point to have the driver nearest to the center of the road, whichever way it goes?

In my experience, it is very disorienting to have to re-learn how to drive a right-handed vehicle when you are used to the left-handed ones. Or vice versa.

Anyone who has been on the sidewalks of Seoul for more than 5 minutes knows that this talk of pedestrians on the left or right is pretty theoretical.

Not only do people walk anywhere they want, including the street often because cars are parked on the sidewalks, but they veer and stop randomly, both singly and in bunches. Add to this the fact that the sidewalks are often inadequate to handle their traffic and you get one reason some foreigners hate walking in Seoul.

Then there are the motorbikes which zip up and down the sidewalks, again with particular notice of 'sides.' ;-)

But then I read that idiot jc etc, and didn't have the heart.

I don't see why any damned government should tell me what side of the road to drive on; if other people don't like the way i drive they can just stay home or get out of my way.

Next thing they will be telling me I can't drive and shoot at the same time.

In Kenya they drive on the left - watch this space; Obama will be changing the rules real soon so his left-leaning Kenyan buddies will feel at home when they take over.

You need to go back on your meds.

Obama is not a liberal. The only way he could be called a liberal is if you are so far right, you are going to fall off the edge.

Wingnuts can politicize Samoan driving rules. That's pretty impressive/horrifying.

Heh, I like the idea of swapping what side you drive on every few years to make people more cautious. But Hawai'i beat you to it. In some cities, they have 'contra-flow' traffic. A lane that literally changes direction by time of day. That's real fun to deal with when you're visiting from the mainland.

It actually started almost 30 hrs before. i got onthe airplane in LA and we started to fly. Then we flew over Hawaii and the trip actually started. We kept on flying and flying. We saw sunrise flying over Neumea and after another couple of hours we experience sunrise while arriving at Sydney. From there we took the prop airplane to Canberra. I knew I had found my new home when I looked around the tarmac and found no jets.

Then we went to the car rental place and picked up the car. It was a standard with everything switched because we were driving on the "wrong" side of the road. We hopped into the car and I was shifting with the wrong hand. this was after trying to get into the passenger side door. I hadn't slept in about 48 hours ( I think, it's hard to tell ). then we hit the roundabout ... my head almost exploded.

I'll never forget the look on the driver's eyes when I pulled into the wrong lane. There was real fear.

When I visit the US I now must reverse the process. Think about arriving at JFK at 8:00 on a Friday afternoon and trying to drive on the "wrong" side of the road after 30hrs on limited sleep. It takes awhile for the old habits to kick in.

I can't imagine aan entire country changing all in one day.

rather than the British imposed model after colonial rule ended. They decided to stick with what they had which, I think, was the right decision. In addition to the one-time transition costs were high as far as rerouting traffic, there was the fear people might revert to the old way and cause deadly accidents. In the shopping areas, tourists are accommodated with "Look Left" signs lest you step out into oncoming traffic.

It is kinda fun to take the bus down from China and switchover en route.

i'd rather shift with my right hand than my left.

Ghana switched from left to right in 1974.

Seajay was making a joke...

Free people should be able to drive on any side they like. How dare you cram your side-ism down our throats

Countries that drive on the left tend to have more standard vehicles and those that drive on the right have more automatics. Right-handed drivers don't like to take their dominant hand of the wheel to shift gears.

Funny cartoon too. Thanks!

Good article with interesting historical references and good logical points. One thing that still confuses me is why trains, which after all run on tracks and don't have the danger of drifting into the other lane, run whichever way. Specifically, in Paris, cars drive on the right, Metro trains run on the right, but (some?) SNCF trains run on the left. Pour quoi?

I have driven standard transmission cars for most of my driving career in the US. Shifting with my left hand rather than with my dominant right hand would be problematic for me. It's a lot easier to steer a circular steering wheel with the non-dominant hand than to properly shift with the non-dominant.

I was just made aware of the problem by my brother in law who takes frequent trips to the UK. When he mentioned the shifting issue, I realized that I would never attempt to drive in a left lane country.