Hey all. So today while I was looking at my right hand drive bel air, it got me wonderin' I know you guys all drive on the wrong side of the road, so what side of the footpath(side walk) do you walk on while in a busy area? Here in Australia most people tend to walk on the left. While I'm at it, does anyone have any idea/answer as to why America has left hand drives where as we have right hands in the first place? Cheers Jackson
I've wondered the right and left thing myself. In the US it goes clear back to buggies. As far as sidewalks go, most people fade to the right unless its a big overweight women with a purse and shopping bags,...they frown at you and walk down the center and expect you to get outta their way ..lol
Interestingly, on a visit to England I noticed they tend to fade to the left on sidewalks. I think it is due to the side of the road they drive on. Part of Austria used to drive on the other side. Sweden used to drive on the other side. The other side was common in this country in the early 20's until we standardized.
How about this? Majority of people are right handed. That puts the shifter in the right hand. When it all started, there were no automatic transmissions.
It is customary for a man to walk close to the curb when with a woman, that way, the man would get hit first by a horse,a buggy or a car. Maybe the same principle when driving. Also the passengers get out on the curb side and not in to traffic. So what is the reason you guys drive on the wrong side of the road. Also the majority of people are right handed, thus they use there right hand to shift.
I was taught that the "pass on the right" rule goes back to the Conestoga wagons our ancestors migrated west with. The driver's seat was mounted on the left and they kept right so they could see each other well enough to avoid collisions. Fun Fact: Studebaker was a wagon and carriage builder before they started making automobiles.
I read once that in the U.K. it started as a nauticle rule on how ships passed each other, which was then continued on the road ways. Don't know how true that is though (?)
America used to drive on the right until independence. After independance they decided to drive on the left like their good buddies, the French Revolutionaries. The French Revolutionaries decided to drive on the left just because it was different from the pre-revolution era. Interestingly, most prestige cars in Europe were right hand drive until WW2.
When I lived in downtown Brisbane, people tended to walk on the side walk wherever the shopping windows were. Thats why they were always running into each other.t thought it was an Aussy thing
Everywhere I've ever traveled that drives on the left (Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, etc) also "walks" that way, too. It seems the ways of general transportation get carried throughout the society. Seems to me that in "lefty" orientated countries, they walk, take the stairs, and even enter double-doors on the left side. Which is always the opposite of us "righties" in America, Europe, etc. Gary
Most people are right handed and as such kept that hand on the steering wheel whilst changing gear....the gear stick and other controls and switches was operated with the auxillary hand....it also feels correct if you are facing something coming at you to tend to fend it off with your stronger side... I`ve owned lhd cars here and find it no problem..just have to either ask the passenger if its clear or pull out a bit further to see....same when I`ve picked up a rental over in America..after a few miles you get into the mode.
Some historians, such as C. Northcote Parkinson, believed that ancient travellers on horseback generally rode on the left side of the road. As more people are right-handed, a horseman would thus be able to hold the reins with his left hand and keep his right hand free—to offer in friendship to passing riders or to defend himself with a sword, if necessary. The first legal reference in Britain to an order for traffic to remain on the left was in 1756 with regard to London Bridge. The Highway Act 1773 contained a recommendation that horse traffic should remain on the left and this is enshrined in the Highway Act 1835. In the late 18th century, the shift from left to right that took place in countries such as the United States was based on teamsters' use of large freight wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. The wagons had no driver's seat, so a postilion sat on the left rear horse and held his whip in his right hand. Seated on the left, the driver preferred that other wagons pass him on the left so that he could be sure to keep clear of the wheels of oncoming wagons. He did that by driving on the right side of the road. There is a popular story that Napoleon changed the rule of the road in the European countries he conquered from keep-left to keep-right. Some justifications are symbolic, such as that Napoleon himself was left- (or right-) handed, or that Britain, Napoleon's enemy, kept left. Alternatively, troops passing on the left may have been tempted to raise their right fists against each other. Forcing them to pass on the right reduced conflict. Hence, island nations such as Britain and Japan (using ships to move troops around and having less need to move them overland) continued to drive on the left. These stories have never been shown to have a factual basis and appear to be legends.
We have sidewalks over here man. We have left hand drive cars because we race counterclockwise on dirt tracks (same as direction a turd goes when we flush a toilet). Being on the left, you are safer from the outside wall.
Ive read that is was about knights, they rode on the left so they could hold onto the reins and salute and then draw sword if need be. The salute also helped get the sun and face shield out of the way so they could see the person they were passing. On the side walks we walk where ever we want because its a free country and if someone wants to stand in the middle of the sidewalk and text on a phone, well they can because your free to be an asshole.
X's 2.... I also agree with the above statement that probbbly its due to the majority of people being right handed, makes it easier to operate the shifter...also, it would make it safer for the lady in the passenger side to get in and out of the car safely while at a curb...we are gentlemen here in the USA!
never heard so much crap about walking on a path!!!you walk on the side the shop is that your going too, surely,though i will cross the road to be on the sunny side
It was Henry Ford who built the first left hand drive car, followed a few years later by Cadillac. At least thats my info. If you look at the cool 1906 San Francisco vids on u tube, the cars are right hand drive. As for what side to walk on, i walk on the side closet to where im going. lol. Heres an interesting fact, right handed people, on average, live 6 to 8 years longer than left handed people.
The reason we drive on the right or left is as simple as the reason we still use "QWERTY" key boards. It's a left over. You see, the horse drawn coaches built in Europe were designed with the brake lever on the right of the coach wereas American coaches were being built with the brake lever on the left. Whilst driving a coach you always passed another coach on the brake side because it was easier for the driver to see and make sure the coaches or wagons didn't lock axles while passing. And QWERTY keyboards are only still produced because people are used to it. It was only laid out that way so the typewriter mechanism could function and be kept small enough to fit on a desk. We seem to be creatures of habit without questioning.
Mostly correct. The expanded reason is simple math: at some point in the 20's, half the cars on the road were Fords, ergo, at least half the cars were LHD. The sheer weight of numbers forced the hands of regulators. Prior to the 'T' (1908), there was little traffic, virtually no inter-city traffic that ran on roads (rail travel was the thing), so what few regulations there were, were up to the individual metropolitan area. Interesting factoid: The Chicago-Northwestern RR was the only RR that adhered to a 'pass on the left' rule for double track main line service. Not sure what the UP is doing about this on CNW trackage. Cosmo
Thanks Cosmo, Im a history nut, so always love to hear more on how things all worked in the past. I know this has been posted in the past, but theres a few who havent seen it, and you gotter see it. http://youtu.be/pfZX-4iQOgQ
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