BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Could the UK drive on the right? Could the UK drive on the right? By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine Motorists in Samoa have switched the side of the road they drive on, overnight. It's a move that Britain has considered - but how would it work? It's the kind of interview question that has reduced confident job seekers to quivering wrecks. Imagine you are the minister in charge of the UK's roads and you have to switch the country to driving on the right-hand side. How would you do it? A study of Samoa, in the South Pacific, this week might offer some clues. The country is experiencing its first day of driving on the left on Monday, the start of a special two-day bank holiday to ease Samoans into the new regime. WHY THE RIGHT/LEFT SPLIT? In the pre-industrial era, horses kept to the left so riders could draw their sword Napoleon changed Europe to the right The US followed France See which countries drive where What if the UK were to follow? Driving on the right would make trips to the European mainland easier, when taking or hiring a car. And cars with steering wheels on the left could be cheaper.

The idea is not as fanciful as it sounds. Although the Department for Transport says it has no plans to change, it did examine such a plan in the late 1960s, two years after Sweden successfully switched to driving on the right. Its report rejected the idea on grounds of safety and costs. But that was before Britain's entry into the European Union and the opening of the Channel Tunnel, which for the first time established a land link between Britain and the Continent. So, if the UK was to think again about a switch, what would be the key issues? SIGNS & JUNCTIONS Road markings and roadside signs would have to be switched to the other side of the road, but ready in advance of the day of change, in a huge logistical exercise. One-way streets would have to be reconfigured and traffic lights with filters changed, says Paul Watters of the AA. To get an idea of the cost, changing signs from miles to kilometres alone was estimated at £750m, he adds. Japan is also left-hand side The biggest engineering issue would be highway building, says Benjamin Heydecker of the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London.

About one in 10 motorway junctions is asymmetric or incomplete, so would need to be dug up and rebuilt. "Motorway signs would have to be turned round and repositioned, so approaches to junctions would not be in the same place." Accident blackspots would all need looking at too, because the signs there are site-specific and so would need to change. ADJUSTING SLIP ROADS "Entrance and exits to motorways are not symmetrical either, so there would be consequences there too," says Mr Heydecker. Slip roads that were deceleration lanes would suddenly be used for accelerating, so their lengths would need to be extended; and vice versa. EDUCATING DRIVERS Although many motorists would be used to driving on the right - thanks to trips abroad - a comprehensive retraining programme would be needed, according to Mr Heydecker. Particular emphasis would be put on negotiating roundabouts (which would run anti-clockwise) and left-hand turns, which would require cutting across oncoming traffic. After years of driving, habits are well entrenched and it might take more than a few lessons to get used to the new arrangements. But where could "learners" practise, before the switch?

CAR STEERING WHEELS & BUS DOORS Making life even harder for motorists is the fixed right-hand driver's position of cars sold in the UK - suddenly drivers would find themselves further away from the centre of the road. Over time British drivers would buy cars with left-hand steering, so they would be changing gears with their right hands. The global manufacturing of cars would be simplified if all countries were to opt for left-hand steering, says Mr Heydecker. "If cars were all manufactured the same way, it would reduce the cost of design and improve the quality of vehicles." Public service vehicles like buses would also have to undergo a massive overhaul so that their doors were on the right-hand-side of the vehicle. LEARN FROM SWEDEN Preparations were made long in advance, says Niklas Stavegard of Motormannen, which is the Swedish Automobile Association. WHY DID SWEDEN DO IT? Sweden's neighbours drive on right It already had left-hand steering In 1955, 83% voted against change But the parliament voted in favour in 1963 Samoa braced for change "All road signs were doubled, new signs on the right-hand side, which were covered until the day of the change.

On the particular day, the left-hand side signs were covered and right hand side signs were used." The change was made at 0500 on Sunday 3 September 1967. All private traffic was banned between 0100 and 0600 and there was a total stop on all traffic at 0450, with a countdown on the radio to 0500. The speed limit in urban areas was lowered from 50km/h to 40km/h for a period of time after the change. A majority of all cars already had the steering wheel on the left side, so no change was made to cars. COST In 1969, the financial burden of making the switch was calculated by the government to be £264m - about £3.4bn today. But that would now be seen as a ridiculously conservative estimate. "Since that time, the road network and the level of sophistication of the network and its controlling infrastructure has grown enormously," says a spokeswoman for the Department for Transport. Additional costs would include all buses being changed, alteration to motorway entrances and exits, and traffic control systems.

"Casualties would also be likely to rise, and the current cost of a fatality is £608,580," she says. "This could be particularly true for elderly road users who are less able to adapt to changed conditions." THE VERDICT The Republic of Ireland, which has already changed its road signs from miles to kilometres, briefly considered this move to greater European integration last year, when a pro-Brussels political party suggested it. But it was swiftly rejected. "When the question came up, it was followed by the question 'Is it needed?' and the answer to that was 'No', says Sean O'Neill of the Irish National Roads Authority. Look left, no right, no wait! "If it was needed or if the UK did it, and left us as one of the last European countries driving on the left-hand side, then we would think differently." For a significantly bigger country, like the UK, with a relatively more developed road network, the challenge would be even greater. The immediate fear would be of road chaos and mass casualties, says Philip Gomm of the RAC Foundation.

"Given that any change would have to be instantaneous, and the nation's roads are never quiet, only less busy - indeed Britain has some of the most congested roads in Europe - how do you seamlessly get everyone onto the other side of the carriageway? "The whole concept is mindboggling. It would be a logistical nightmare involving huge public education, vast sums of money and a massive amount of staff - and all so we can be like the French. "So probably the best advice to anyone even contemplating such a scheme is; don't bother. If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Additional reporting by Finlo Rohrer Return to link Below is a selection of your comments. You have to drive on the right when using the the short stretch of (public) road leading from the Strand up to the front of the Savoy hotel in central London. I was once told it was the only such road in Britain, and was something to do with taxi turning circles. Chris H, London The concern would be how it is funded. The driver is already heavily taxed and no doubt the taxes would be increased to fund this, even if the decision is not their own.

However, car manufacturers continually state the cost of UK cars is because of making right-hand drive versions (even those, strangely, designed and made here) so we may be able to get cheaper cars here, or if not the penalty for buying abroad and bringing back here will no longer be that the steering wheel is on the wrong side. Neil Hamshaw, Norwich Rather than thrown £billions at changing sides, please can we throw £billions at vastly improving public transport, so that the roads are less congested? Then, in years to come, perhaps it won't be such a big deal. Jerry Cullum, Alton, UK To get the UK to drive on the right would be expensive, disruptive, unpopular and dangerous. So, it's quite surprising that the government hasn't tried to enforce this already. ID cards anyone? Chris, Cambridge Several road sections that come to mind that would be difficult to re-engineer are Spaghetti Junction, parts of the M2 which have extremely small acceleration/deceleration zones for slip roads and of course all of the variable speed limits on the M42, M6 and M25. Those would definitely not be cheap to sort out. The rest of it shouldn't be too hard I'd have thought.

Alex, Birmingham, UK As usual, moving to the right seems to have high costs and few benefits. But for much less investment we could sort out our ridiculously muddled measurements. We buy petrol in litres but quote MPG to advertise cars! We buy UHT milk in litres, but fresh in pints! Completing the botched metrication programme would deliver real, affordable benefits. Chris Edwards, Winchester, UK As in so many things, Britain remains a floating heritage museum of the absurd, forever trapped in a pre-industrial era of quaint practices and bizarre traditions. Will we ever drag ourselves into the 21st century? Steve, Suffolk, UK When we drive from the UK to Europe the changeover occurs when we leave the ferry/train terminal. Would it be reasonable to suggest that we move the changeover point further and further inland starting at ports where you can drive into, to get to Europe or away from out of Europe. The transition then could be staged over a period of, say, three years. Paul Gibbons, Milton Keynes My brother lives near Germany and had noticed that there seems to incidents almost every month of Germans driving down the wrong side of the Autobahns. He now reckons that it's more natural to drive on the left.

The rest of Europe should join the majority (of population) who drive on the left. Peter S, Sandy GB What would be gained from a switch? The traffic congestion would be just as bad, just on the other side of the street. Although it would be enormously amusing if Ireland made the switch and we didn't. The cross-over at the roads bordering Ulster would be the most chaotic places in the world. I'd be quite happy with metric distances and speed limits. Let's make the speed limit on motorways 80mph so we'd be ready for the (almost) European wide 130kmh limits. Dougie Lawson, Basingstoke, UK Having driven overseas on the 'other' side of the road, I will only do so in a left hand drive car - sightlines are wrong if you try to drive on the right in a right hand drive car. Megan, Cheshire UK Great idea which is well overdue. With increased international travel over the last few years many people will be quite experienced at driving on the right - Europe and USA being the 2 main overseas holiday destinations.

I have driven on the right overseas for almost 30 years and have no problems whatsoever with adjusting the mindset to being on the "wrong" side of the road. In the long term the roads would become safer for both people in the UK (overseas lorries are a current problem) and for other countries (UK citizens more used to driving on the right). This is a task which is crying out for the EU to get to grips with - perhaps they could assist with both financing road changes and with subsidising people switching to left hand drive vehicles. Simon in Leigh, Leigh on Sea, Essex, England Everyone drove/rode on the left until the left-handed Napoleon Bonaparte changed it throughout his domain. Therefore, historically speaking, it is the rest of the world that has got it wrong! Changing now would be a huge waste of public money, be almost impossible to implement and cause many extra fatalities, for little gain in practical terms. Now Samoa has changed to the left, there are 75 countries who drive on the same side as us, so we are hardly on our own. Common sense dictates we should leave well alone!

Simon, Shropshire, UK All sounds a bit pointless and expensive...but if we were given two extra bank holidays to get used to it like the Samoans (possibly continued every year to mark the momentous change) then it would certainly get my vote. Pamela, London, UK Driving on the left hand side is an anomaly that has become more significant now Britain is no longer an island, but the expense and expected high accident rate that can be expected if there is to be a change, would surely mitigate against it. For Ireland, and Malta who also drive on the left, there is no real incentive to change, as they are still islands with no direct connection to the rest of Europe. However, considering that all public service vehicles and many road layouts would need reconstruction, and the number of drivers who would need retraining, it is almost uncontemplatable. It really cannot be compared with the almost painless way it was done in Sweden, as the UK has a far greater road mileage and a considerably higher number of vehicles than Sweden in the 1960's. Alex Gordon, Ipswich, GB Which was the last country in mainland Europe to switch from driving on theleft?

View the step-by-step solution to: Which was the last country in mainland Europe to switch from driving on theleft? This question was answered on May 23, 2016. View the Answer Which was the last country in mainland Europe to switch from driving on theleft? trevaa7634 posted a question · May 23, 2016 at 11:56pm Top Answer josewriter23 answered the question · May 23, 2016 at 11:57pm Other Answers Let me explain the... View the full answer {[ getNetScore(29702852) ]} Sweden The last European country... View the full answer {[ getNetScore(29702875) ]} View Full Answer or ask a new question Related Questions Hi, I need help writing a 5 page paper with a thesis statement on the following question: Should we view the Western Roman Empire (ending with the sack of Rome Recently Asked Questions Need an Ancient History tutor? falsely 2 Ancient History experts found online! Average reply time is less than an hour Get Homework Help Why Join Course Hero?

Course Hero has all the homework and study help you need to succeed! We’ve got course-specific notes, study guides, and practice tests along with expert tutors and customizable flashcards—available anywhere, anytime. - - Study Documents Find the best study resources around, tagged to your specific courses. Share your own to gain free Course Hero access or to earn money with our Marketplace. 890,990,898 Question & Answers Get one-on-one homework help from our expert tutors—available online 24/7. Ask your own questions or browse existing Q&A threads. Satisfaction guaranteed! 890,990,898 Flashcards Browse existing sets or create your own using our digital flashcard system. A simple yet effective studying tool to help you earn the grade that you want! 76 - Driving Orientation: A World Map | Big Think 76 - Driving Orientation: A World Map Over a year ago Another traffic map of sorts. If this world map vaguely looks like it’s highlighting a remnant of the British Empire, that’s no coincidence. This map shows which side of the road traffic drives on. Dark blue: drives on left (mainly British ex-colonies).

Light blue: used to drive on right, now on left (Namibia). Purple: used to have mixed system, now drives on right. Light red: used to drive on left, now on right. Dark red: drives on right. As one might gather from the map, the story of left or right hand side driving is more than just a derivative of British Imperialism. Right-handedness, a trait shared by 85 to 90% of people, is the reason for the initial preference for left and for the switch to right side driving. Throughout the ages, horsemen preferred passing each other on the left side, because this allowed them to hold on to the reins with their left hand while with their right they shook hands with or swords at passers-by (as the situation warranted). In the late 1700s, teamsters in many countries switched to bigger freight waggons drawn by multiple pairs of horses. They would sit on the left rear horse, thus able to whip with their right hand. This allowed them better vision on their left-hand side, so they preferred the opposing traffic to cross them on the left – meaning they switched to driving on the right-hand side of the road.

So nowadays, an estimated 66% of people worldwide live in right-hand side countries, and 72% of all distances are completed while driving on the right side of the road. Britain was the main exception: smaller waggons meant the driver was able to sit on top of them, not needing to ride one of the horses. British drivers remained seated on the right-hand side, and thus kept driving on the left-hand side of the road. This British custom would be adopted in most if not all British colonies, at least initially. One of the main promulgators of driving on the right was revolutionary France, at that time Britain’s arch-enemy, thus lending a ‘political’ subtext to this purely practical question. France spread the practice to most of the countries it conquered at the turn of the 19th century. Even in spite of France’s revolutionary conquests, several European countries other than Great-Britain kept their traffic on the left of the street.

Most eventually made the switch to right side driving: Finland (1858), Russia (at the end of the Czarist era), Italy (1924), Portugal (1928), Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary (all three in the Nazi era), Sweden (1967) and Iceland (1968). One boy broke his leg due to that last European switch. Today, the only European countries driving on the left of the road, excepting Britain, were once ruled by it: Ireland, Malta and Cyprus (including the separate but internationally unrecognised Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus). Ironically, Gibraltar, the last colony in Europe and still ruled by Britain, switched to right-hand driving in 1929. Many former British colonies outside of Europe continue to drive left: India, Pakistan, Hong Kong (even though it’s been returned to right-side driving China in 1997), Australia, New Zealand and the former British colonies in the West Indies. Macau and Mozambique also drive on the left. Colonies of Portugal, they opted for the ‘British’ side of the road due to proximity to British colonies.

This may also be why Suriname, a former Dutch colony in South America, drives on the left: its neighbour is the ex-British, left-driving country of Guyana. Those two countries are the last on continental America to drive left. Many other ex-British colonies did change to driving on the right, as with Gibraltar mostly to conform to the practice on the other side of the border. In Canada, the practice varied between the provinces and territories. The switch to the right side took place from 1920 onwards, to be completed by Newfoundland in 1947. Other cases in point: Belize (1961), the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Burma (1970). The introduction of right-side driving sometimes did coincide with anti-British politics. This certainly was a factor in the American switch (the USA went right-side not long after independence, from 1792 onwards). And both on the Channel Islands, occupied by Germany in 1940, as on the Falklands, occupied by Argentina in the early 1980s, right-side driving was imposed, only to be reversed when both territories were reconquered by the British.

In spite of all the preceding, the choice of which side to drive on can not be reduced to a matter of British influence or not. Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and the US Virgin Islands were never British colonies, but today they too drive on the left. An overview of left-side driving countries per continent: Africa: Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (off Africa: ) Mauritius, Saint Helena, Seychelles. Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand. In the Carribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Island, US Virgin Islands. On mainland America: Guyana and Suriname. (off mainland America: ) Bermuda, Falkland Islands.

In Oceania: Australia and dependencies, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Nauru, Niue, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu. In Europe: Great Britain and dependencies (Channel Islands, Isle of Man), Cyprus, Ireland, Malta. Upon review, the map does not correspond to all the info given here (for example, the text says Russia switched to right side driving while the map shows it always did); however both the map and the explanations were taken from the Wikipedia page about left-hand driving. MOST POPULAR Why do some countries drive on the left and others on the right? - World Standards Why do some countries drive on the left and others on the right? Last update: 7 February 2016 Google+175 History and origin About a 35% of the world population drives on the left , and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world, but there is a perfectly good reason. Click here for a world map and a full list of all countries of the world and the side of the road on which they drive.

Right-handed knights preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people. 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 late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses.

These wagons had no driver’s seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road. In Russia, in 1709, the Danish envoy under Tsar Peter the Great noted the widespread custom for traffic in Russia to pass on the right, but it was only in 1752 that Empress Elizabeth (Elizaveta Petrovna) officially issued an edict for traffic to keep to the right. In addition, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and the subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right.

An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right had been made compulsory in 1793. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1812) Later, Napoleon’s conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Germany, Poland and many parts of Spain and Italy. The states that had resisted Napoleon kept left – Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal. This European division, between the left- and right-hand nations would remain fixed for more than 100 years, until after the First World War. Although left-driving Sweden ceded Finland to right-driving Russia after the Finnish War (1808-1809), Swedish law – including traffic regulations – remained valid in Finland for another 50 years. It wasn’t until 1858 that an Imperial Russian decree made Finland swap sides. The trend among nations over the years has been toward driving on the right, but Britain has done its best to stave off global homogenisation.

With the expansion of travel and road building in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in every country. Left-hand driving was made mandatory in Britain in 1835. Countries which were part of the British Empire followed suit. This is why to this very day, India, Australasia and the former British colonies in Africa go left. An exception to the rule, however, is Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency. Japan was never part of the British Empire, but its traffic also goes to the left. Although the origin of this habit goes back to the Edo period (1603-1868), it wasn’t until 1872 that this unwritten rule became more or less official. That was the year when Japan’s first railway was introduced, built with technical aid from the British. Gradually, a massive network of railways and tram tracks was built, and of course all trains and trams drove on the left-hand side. Still, it took another half century till in 1924 left-side driving was clearly written in a law. When the Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1596, they brought along their habit of driving on the left.

It wasn’t until Napoleon conquered the Netherlands that the Dutch started driving on the right. Most of their colonies, however, remained on the left as did Indonesia and Suriname. In the early years of English colonisation of North America, English driving customs were followed and the colonies drove on the left. After gaining independence from England, however, they were anxious to cast off all remaining links with their British colonial past and gradually changed to right-hand driving. Incidentally, the influence of other European immigrants, especially the French, should not be underestimated. The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, and similar laws were passed in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813. Horse and carriage on the left side of the road in Vancouver, British Columbia (1880) Despite the developments in the US, some parts of Canada continued to drive on the left until shortly after the Second World War. The territory controlled by the French (from Quebec to Louisiana) drove on the right, but the territory occupied by the English (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) kept left.

British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces switched to the right in the 1920s in order to conform with the rest of Canada and the USA. Newfoundland drove on the left until 1947, and joined Canada in 1949. In Europe, the remaining left-driving countries switched one by one to driving on the right. Portugal changed in 1920s. The change took place on the same day in the whole country, including the colonies. Territories, however, which bordered other left-driving countries were exempted. That is why Macau, Goa (now part of India) and Portuguese East Africa kept the old system. East Timor, which borders left-driving Indonesia, did change to the right though, but left-hand traffic was reintroduced by the Indonesians in 1975. In Italy the practice of driving on the right first began in the late 1890s. The first Italian Highway Code, issued on 30 June 1912, stated that all vehicles had to drive on the right. Cities with a tram network, however, could retain left-hand driving if they placed warning signs at their city borders.

The 1923 decree is a bit stricter, but Rome and the northern cities of Milan, Turin and Genoa could still keep left until further orders from the Ministry of Public Works. By the mid-1920s, right-hand driving became finally standard throughout the country. Rome made the change on the 1 of March 1925 and Milan on 3 August 1926. Up till the 1930s Spain lacked national traffic regulations. Some parts of the country drove on the right (e.g. Barcelona) and other parts drove on the left (e.g. Madrid). On the 1st of October 1924 Madrid switched to driving on the right. When the Nazis marched into Austria on 12 March 1938, Hitler ordered all of Austria to switch to driving on the right. The break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire caused no change: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary continued to drive on the left. Austria itself was something of a curiosity. Half the country drove on the left and half on the right.

Not surprisingly, the dividing line was precisely the area affected by Napoleon’s conquests in 1805. The Austrian states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Carinthia, as well as the western half of Salzburg switched to driving on the right between 1921 and 1935. When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered the rest of Austria to make the switch overnight. The change threw the driving public into turmoil, because motorists were unable to see most road signs. In Vienna it proved impossible to change the trams overnight, so while all other traffic took to the right-hand side of the road, the trams continued to run on the left for several weeks. Czechoslovakia and Hungary, among the last states on the mainland of Europe to keep left, changed to the right after being invaded by Germany in 1939 and late 1944 respectively. Meanwhile, the power of the right kept growing steadily. American cars were designed to be driven on the right by locating the drivers’ controls on the vehicle’s left side.

With the mass production of reliable and economical cars in the United States, initial exports used the same design, and out of necessity many countries changed their rule of the road. Gibraltar changed to right-hand traffic in 1929 and China in 1946. Korea now drives right, but only because it passed directly from Japanese colonial rule to American and Russian influence at the end of the Second World War. Pakistan also considered changing to the right in the 1960s, but ultimately decided not to do it. The main argument against the shift was that camel trains often drove through the night while their drivers were dozing. The difficulty in teaching old camels new tricks was decisive in forcing Pakistan to reject the change. Nigeria, a former British colony, had been driving on the left with British imported right-hand-drive cars, but when it gained independence, it wanted to throw off its colonial past and shifted to driving on the right in 1972. After the Second World War, left-driving Sweden, the odd one out in mainland Europe, felt increasing pressure to change sides in order to conform with the rest of the continent.

The problem was that all their neighbours already drove on the right side and since there are a lot of small roads without border guards leading into Norway and Finland, one had to remember in which country one was. In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum on the introduction of right-hand driving. Although no less than 82.9% voted “no” to the plebiscite, the Swedish parliament passed a law on the conversion to right-hand driving in 1963. Finally, the change took place on Sunday, 3 September 1967, at 5 o’clock in the morning. The day was referred to as Dagen H or, in English, H day. The ‘H’ stands for ‘Högertrafik’, the Swedish word for ‘right-hand traffic’. Samoan workers are repainting road markings in 2009 All traffic with private motor-driven vehicles was prohibited four hours before and one hour after the conversion, in order to be able to rearrange all traffic signs. Even the army was called in to help. Also a very low speed limit was applied, which was raised in a number of steps. The whole process took about a month.

After Sweden’s successful changeover, Iceland changed the following year, in 1968. On 2 April 1972 Nigeria swapped sides and Ghana did the same thing in 1974. In the 1960s, Great Britain also considered changing, but the country’s conservative powers did everything they could to nip the proposal in the bud. Furthermore, the fact that it would cost billions of pounds to change everything round was not much of an incentive… Eventually, Britain dropped the idea. Today, only four European countries still drive on the left: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. On 7 September 2009 the Independent State of Samoa (not to be confused with American Samoa !) became the third country ever to change from right- to left-hand driving. Samoa had been driving on the right since it had become a German colony in the early 20th century, although it was administered by New Zealand after the First World War and gained independence in 1962. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi wanted to swap sides to make it easier to import cheap cars from left-hand driving Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Click here for a full list of all countries of the world and the side of the road each of them drives on. Click here to find out why the steering wheel is on the left side of the car in right-driving countries and vice versa. Languages What if Britain gave up driving on the left? - World Standards What if Britain gave up driving on the left? What if Britain gave up driving on the left? Last update: 7 February 2016 Google+0 It is perfectly possible for a country to switch from one side of the road to the other. In the sixties and seventies, Sweden, Iceland, Nigeria and Ghana all swapped sides without much of a problem. But is Britain ever going to drive on the right side of the road? It seems highly improbable, but let’s go with it for now. Let’s assume that the UK (or any other left-driving country, for that matter) is going to flip from left to right. What are the pros and cons? Merits of making the switch Driving on the right would bring left-driving countries into line with most of the rest of the world, which would eliminate a lot of traffic confusion and dangerous situations when going abroad.

Driving on the right would make trips to right-driving countries easier, when taking or hiring a car. Vehicles with steering wheels on the left are often cheaper, because they are mass-produced. Right-hand-drive cars are produced in smaller numbers and require additional engineering time, so they are bound to be more expensive. That’s the reason why in mainland Europe cars are a fair bit cheaper than in the UK or Ireland. Demerits of making the switch Costs (changing road markings and signs, rebuilding some motorway junctions, replacing buses, etc.) In 1969, the financial burden of making the switch was calculated by the British government to be £264 million, about £3.4 billion today (approximately €4 billion or U$5.6 billion). But that would now be seen as a ridiculously conservative estimate. Since that time, the road network and the level of sophistication of the network and its controlling infrastructure has grown enormously. A couple of years ago, the UK Automobile Association calculated that the cost of simply changing Britain”s road signs from miles to kilometres would be £750 million. Initially all cars would still have the steering wheel on the right, so drivers would find themselves further away from the centre of the road.

Immediately after the switch, there could be a safety problem: driving habits are well entrenched and it might take some time to get used to the new arrangements. This could be particularly true for elderly road users who are less able to adapt to changed conditions. All buses would have to be rebuilt or else they would have to drop off passengers in the middle of the road. How would it work? Road markings and roadside signs would have to be switched to the other side of the road, but ready in advance of the day of change. They would have to remain covered until the day of the change. One-way streets would have to be reconfigured. Traffic lights with filters would have to changed. About one in 10 motorway junctions would need to be dug up and rebuilt, since they are asymmetric or incomplete. Slip roads that were deceleration lanes would suddenly be used for accelerating, so their lengths would need to be extended and vice versa. The switch would have to be made at night and all private traffic would have to be banned for several hours in order to allow workers to uncover the new road signs. Immediately after the change, the speed limit in urban areas would have to be lowered for a couple of weeks as a safety precaution.

For some (mostly elderly) motorists a retraining programme would be needed to familiarize them with anti-clockwise roundabouts, left-hand turns which cut across oncoming traffic, etc. Languages 3 September 1967: Sweden switches to driving on right-hand side of the road - MoneyWeek Home > 3 September 1967: Sweden switches to driving on right-hand side of the road 3 September 1967: Sweden switches to driving on right-hand side of the road 03/09/2014 5AM in Stockholm. Time to switch. This day in Sweden in 1967 was known as ‘Högertrafikomläggningen’ – the ‘right-hand traffic diversion’. Also called ‘Dagen-H’, it was the day the country switched from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right. While the rest of mainland Europe had settled on driving on the right hand side of the road, Sweden decided it preferred the left. This caused problems. People had to switch from left to right at the borders with Norway and Finland, plus –oddly – virtually every car in Sweden at the time was left-hand drive.

Nevertheless, Swedes seemed to like it that way. The government first proposed changing over to the right as early as 1920, but was met with stiff resistance. But it kept on debating it every year. In 1955, it held a referendum – 83% of the population said they’d rather stick on the left, thanks. But after a while, the government thought they’d just get on and do it. So in 1963, the switch was approved, and the Statens Högertrafikkommission was set up to administer the change. A huge PR campaign was set up to get Swedes used to the idea. Junctions were redesigned, and new 360,000 new signs put up in preparation. And so, at 4:50 AM on Sunday 3 September 1967, all traffic was ordered to come to a standstill for ten minutes. Then, at 5:00 AM, everyone switched sides. Boringly, chaos did not ensue. This was Sweden, after all. Everyone behaved themselves, and the accident rate fell.

Insurance claims dropped by 40%, only returning to their previous levels after two years. Sweden isn’t the only country to change sides, of course. Iceland followed suit in 1968, and a whole host of former British colonies in West Africa did it in the 1970s. But it’s not all one-way traffic. Samoa switched from right to left in 2009. And Rwanda and Burundi are currently considering doing the same, to fit in with most of their neighbours. THE END OF OIL Understanding how the end of oil will affect your life and money is the single most important thing you’ll do in the next decade. And it will affect you, because it’ll affect everyone. But only a handful of people will be bold enough to see what’s happening and move early to take advantage. That’s exactly what our research report “The End of Oil” is designed to help you do.

Profit from the fast-growing petcare sector The woman who runs New York's hottest hub The populist who's set to be Mexico's next leader A Brief History of Left-Side Driving A Brief History of Left-Side Driving By Dave Fox The British and Irish habit of left-side driving dates back to the days of jousting. Most people are right-handed, and if you wanted to whack someone on an oncoming horse with your sword, it was easier to do so if you stayed to the left and kept your challenger on your right. Why do different countries drive on different sides? It's left-handed Napoleon's fault. Why does all of continental Europe drive on the right then? Blame Napoleon. Napoleon was left-handed. He was more concerned with protecting his own derrière than with doing what made sense to the majority. As emperor of France, Napoleon ordered the French to switch sides. Then, as he went on his European rampage, he ordered the countries he conquered to do the same. Stockholm, September 5, 1967: Everybody switch sides! Nearly all of mainland Europe followed suit. Everyone but the Swedes, who sided with the Brits in the Napoleonic Wars.

This was a problem in Sweden, especially in rural areas that bordered Norway and Finland. If you didn’t pay attention as you crossed an unguarded border, you could get crunched. But in 1967, the Swedes passed a law that on September 3 at 5 a.m., everyone would switch sides. How fun! The Swedish government set up the National Right-Hand Traffic Commission to oversee the flip-flop. They printed a 30-page pamphlet explaining how to drive on the right. The army turned all the traffic signs around, and for a couple of months, speed limits were reduced considerably to insure that if someone forgot and caused a head-on collision, it would not hurt as much. Ethnocentric Yanks on their first trip to Britain or Ireland like to talk about those uncivilized beasts who drive on the “wrong side” of the road, but roughly a third of the world’s population drives on the left. Australia and New Zealand, most of southeastern Africa, a big chunk of southern Asia, Japan, a rebellious enclave of South America, and dozens of little island nations all drive on the left.

(So do 29 percent of all Seattle taxi drivers.) So if you’re planning a vacation in England, the driving skills you learn will come in handy in subsequent trips to, say, Bangladesh or Tuvalu. [youtube id=”q52RfAiZlws”] Driving On the Right In Sweden History of the Volvo Car September 3 1967. 40 years of driving on the right side in Sweden On September 3, 2007, it will be 40 years to the day since Sweden switched from driving on the left side of the road to the right side. Here is a short story of how it came to happen. Traffic in Sweden – if the word can be applied for horses, oxen and carts – started to use the right side of the road in 1718 and did so until 1734, when suddenly left-hand traffic was introduced. Why? No one really knows. Maybe it was to have the swordhand – right for most people – closest to the enemy when meeting on horseback. And on the left side it stayed for more than 200 years.

In 1916, however, the Swedish parliament acknowledged left-hand traffic by law, but every year between 1920 and 1939, the parliament discussed whether to stay on the left side or move over to the right side of the road, which Sweden's neighbour countries in Scandinavia and the rest of the continent were already using. Nothing happened though. Switching side against the people's will In 1955 a national referendum was held and there was strong campaigning from both sides. Right side campaigners used rational arguments based on facts, like safer overtaking. The "lefties" played on people's long-time habits and emotions; "Do you want to see your mother killed?" Of course such arguments paid off. The result was a landslide victory to stay on the left side –83 per cent against 15 per cent of the voters. Nevertheless, strong lobbying for switching side continued and this eventually led to the parliament deciding in 1963 that Sweden should eventually make the transition from left-hand traffic to right-hand traffic in 1967. This also led to the establishing of the Swedish National Traffic Safety Board during this period. Preparations for the switch started.

On September 3, 1967, at 04.50 in the morning, the traffic everywhere in Sweden was directed over to the right side of the road and stopped. Everything stood absolutely still for 10 minutes, and at 05.00, when it started again, all road users in Sweden from heavy trucks to cyclists were already on the right side of the road, and they have stayed there since. Left: The magic H date and a very clever symbol to remember it by. Right: Kungsgatan in Stockholm on the 3rd of September 1967, 04.50 in the morning. The traffic is directed from the left to the right side of the street and halted. A lot of people witnessed this happen in spite of the early morning hour. There is a nice black/white Volvo Duett police vehicle standing by the kerb in the lower right corner of the picture. Roads, crossings, roundabouts, flyovers etc had already been redesigned and some 360,000 road signs were changed during the night.

The date had also been preceeded by an intensive national campaign, informing people about what was going to happen that day.Some 130,000 reminder signs – a large H for Höger (right in Swedish) – had been put up everywhere along streets and roads, and most cars had an H-sticker on the dashboard in front of the driver in order to remind him or her. Very few cars in Sweden were right-hand drive at the time, despite the fact that Swedish road users had been living with left side traffic for 233 years! There was also a temporary but strict speed limit of 30 kph in built-up areas and 50 kph on all other roads during September 3, which was a Sunday. In total, only some 150 minor accidents were reported during that day. The idea worked very well. The total cost of the transition at the time was SEK 628 million, appr equivalent to EUR 64 million. Bye bye to unlimited speed After this, it was goodbye forever to unlimited speed on Swedish roads which had been allowed outside built-up areas until September 1967.

Speed limits became a reality to live with, and have been with us ever since. This in a way contradicts the trend that started some two years before the left side/right side transition: a reduction of accidents which was at its lowest number at the time of the switch. A contributing factor was also the introduction of the state-controlled annual vehicle inspection which got a lot of bad vehicles off the road. The number of accidents then slowly rose again and in 1970 was almost back at the 1965 level. During the whole month of September 1967, 59 people were killed in Swedish traffic and 1,077 people during the entire year of 1967. The year before, 1966, 99 people were killed in September and 1,313 during the whole year. This may be explained by the fact that drivers were more alert just after the switch but gradually relaxed and fell back into old routine behaviour as time went by. And if you had to react quickly, maybe "with your spine", in a dangerous situation, you sub-consciously made the wrong turn i.e. to the left.

In 1975, the use of safety belts became compulsory in Sweden which in turn had a positive effect on the statistics and in 1977 daytime running lights also became law. Since then, safety belt laws have been enforeced in practically every civilized country and also driving with lights on during the day is also more and more common. Why were pre-1967 Volvos left hand drive? Comes the question why Volvos were offered with left-hand drive in Sweden during the days of left-hand traffic. Let us quote Volvo president Assar Gabrielsson from chapter 74 of his sales handbook, dated 1936: "When automobiles first appeared in Sweden, roads were narrow and twisting. It was very difficult to pass a horse and cart or another car, and you really had to concentrate on the left shoulder of the road. American cars were always delivered with their steering wheels on the left side, and for such a small market as Sweden they were reluctant to change their cars to right-hand drive. Consequently, salesmen of American cars in Sweden often exaggerated the importance of the left shoulder.

Through this, the Swedish people has become used to have the steering wheel on the left side, in spite of Sweden having left-hand traffic. In most other countries, the steering wheel is located at the right side when the traffic is left-hand, or at the left when traffic is right-hand. We at Volvo are fully convinced that taking the road standard into consideration, the left shoulder is of little or no importance. It is much more important to have a clear view of the road ahead when overtaking. Therefore, the most logic thing would be that Volvos were made with right-hand drive. In spite of this, we have kept left-hand drive because we do not feel that we have to be pioneers in this area. We believe that we would only meet resistance from our customers and create extra work for our dealers if we only delivered right-hand drive Volvos. We will therefore continue to sell left-hand drive cars. Volvo trucks and buses, however, can be delivered with left-hand drive or right-hand drive at customer request." Be that how it may. The logical thing at the time would still have been to have right-hand drive cars in left-hand traffic but very few cars, most of them British, were right-hand drive in Sweden at the time.

The American influence was so strong that Swedes merely accepted the facts as they were. One must remember that American cars topped the Swedish registration statistics until 1948 when Volvo took over the top position (from Chevrolet). The truth is probably that is was much too expensive to convert cars for the relatively small Swedish market. And this continued over the years to follow. When right-hand drive Volvos could be had in Sweden, after 1967, the only people that would use them were countryside postmen and disabled people. As a paradox, though, Swedish railways still run on the left on double tracks, as a reminiscence of old times maybe. No doubt this will also be "harmonized" in due time.

Question: Which was the last country in mainland Europe to switch from driving on the left?
Answer: Sweden