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Why Do Drivers in Some Countries Stick to the Left Side of the Road?
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Jul 16, 2025
If you’ve ever landed in the UK, Japan, or Thailand and watched cars zip by on the “wrong” side of the road, you’ve likely asked yourself: Why do some countries drive on the left? It can feel strange at first—especially if you're used to driving on the right. But there’s a fascinating history behind this global divide rooted in ancient customs, colonial influence, and practicality. Tune in as we explore why this driving difference still exists today. 🔗 Read more here: https://abusonadustyroad.com/why-do-some-countries-drive-on-the-left-side-of-the-road/ #DrivingDifferences #LeftSideDriving #TravelCuriosities #CulturalHistory #WhyWeDriveThisWay #RoadRulesWorldwide #AWorldOfDriving #ABusOnADustyRoad We loved to hear from you! Check out our blog at ABusOnADustyRoad.com https://abusonadustyroad.com/ Find more great travel videos, recipes and food ideas, tips about ex-pat life, and ancestry travel.
View Video Transcript
0:07
Hi, this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
0:09
podcast where we like to talk about all
0:11
things to do with travel and living life
0:13
overseas or as we call living your life
0:15
as a global citizen. We believe that you
0:18
can live your life as a global citizen
0:20
anywhere as long as you just care about
0:22
the world, care about people in the
0:24
world. Today we're going to talk about
0:26
something which maybe some that have
0:27
traveled have seen is they wonder why do
0:30
some countries drive on the left side of
0:32
the road. If you've ever landed in the
0:34
UK or in Hong Kong or Thailand, you
0:38
might wonder why are they driving on the
0:40
other side of the road? And sometimes it
0:42
can get a little bit confusing,
0:43
especially when you're trying to cross
0:45
the road or if you're actually renting a
0:47
car and driving there. I didn't realize,
0:50
but there is some reasons why. And here
0:52
are the eight main reasons. The first
0:54
reason was the ancient origins. The left
0:57
was right. To understand left-sided
1:00
driving, we go back to ancient
1:01
civilizations, including the Romans. In
1:04
ancient Rome, people traveled on the
1:06
left. Why? Because most people were
1:09
right-handed. When walking or riding a
1:12
horse, it was safer and more strategic
1:14
to stay on the left side of the road.
1:17
That way, your dominant hand would be
1:19
free to draw a sword or offer a
1:21
greeting.
1:23
This logic made sense not just in combat
1:26
but in everyday safety. Passing someone
1:29
on your right meant your sword hand
1:31
wasn't exposed.
1:33
So this practice then is stuck for
1:35
centuries. Evidence from old roads like
1:38
wheel rots and Roman paths suggests that
1:41
leftsided travel was the norm in much of
1:44
Europe. However, over time as nations
1:48
centralized and began building new
1:49
infrastructure, things began to shift.
1:52
France and the United States, for
1:54
example, adopted right side driving
1:56
during and after the 18th century, but
1:59
some places still held on. The other
2:02
one, of course, is the British factor.
2:04
You know, sticking to the left. British
2:06
formalized lefthanded traffic in the
2:08
18th century, and by the time the
2:11
Highway Act of 1835 was passed, left
2:14
side driving was the law across the
2:15
country. The British weren't alone in
2:18
this, but they were one of the most
2:19
influential nations to lock it in.
2:22
Why didn't they switch to the right like
2:24
their European neighbors? Mainly because
2:26
they didn't have to. Britain was under
2:29
the Napoleon influence who is believed
2:31
to have encouraged right side driving in
2:33
continental Europe. And so, you know,
2:36
basically the British were able to. So,
2:38
they they stuck to their leftsided
2:40
driving. There's also a colonial legacy.
2:43
You know, where the British went, the
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left stayed. So you know when you look
2:46
at former British colonies like says you
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know India, Australia, South Africa,
2:53
Kenya, Malaysia and Hong Kong all
2:57
left-sided drivers. You know there's
3:00
this is no coincidence. This because the
3:01
British were there. They established
3:03
this. They kept it. The British traffic
3:05
rules were often accompanied by British
3:08
colonial infrastructure. Once roads,
3:11
railways, and driving customs were
3:12
established, they became the standard.
3:15
even long after independence. For many
3:17
of these countries, switching sides
3:18
would be costly and confusing. So, they
3:20
didn't even non-colonial British
3:22
countries were also influenced by this,
3:24
such as Thailand. Thailand was never
3:26
colonized. In fact, when you go to
3:28
Thailand, it's one of the proud things
3:29
they'll say. They have never been
3:31
colonized, but they still adopted many
3:33
British systems, including left-sided
3:35
driving due to the influence of the
3:37
British adviserss and foreign car
3:39
imports during his modernization the
3:42
20th century.
3:43
Japan also had left side driving and and
3:47
this is actually different than the
3:49
British. This is because of the samurai
3:51
carriages and the left lane. Japan is a
3:54
unique case. It was never colonized by
3:56
the British but it still drives on the
3:58
left hand side of the road. The
4:00
tradition goes back to the Edo period
4:02
which was in6003 to 1868 when samurai
4:06
and other travelers would keep to the
4:08
left side of the road for the same
4:09
reasons the Romans did to keep their
4:12
sword hand free. Since most people
4:15
right-handed, it was a defensive
4:16
necessity.
4:18
When Japan was modernizing in the 19th
4:20
century, especially during the Maji
4:22
restoration, it turned to Britain for
4:24
help in building railways and importing
4:26
vehicles. British engineers played a
4:29
significant role in shaping Japanese
4:31
infrastructure, particularly by
4:33
enforcing the left-handed system. So
4:36
when automobiles gained popularity in
4:38
the 20th century, it was natural that
4:39
the Japanese continued with the
4:41
left-handed driving as the British did.
4:44
So even though Japan, like Thailand, was
4:46
never colonized, they um actually
4:49
adopted it because of the British. Many
4:51
say that there's practical reasons for
4:53
it. convenience for left-handed drivers.
4:55
Beyond historical consideration, many
4:57
believe that it's more convenient for
4:59
left-handed drivers. I can tell you
5:01
having driven in Thailand myself and
5:03
having driven a stick vehicle
5:06
and you're driving on the left hand side
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of the road, you know, basically, you
5:10
know, it worked for me. It worked okay
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for me to be able to drive the stick
5:14
with without using my um dominant hand
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to be able to change the stick driving
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all the time. It works somehow. you just
5:21
adapt with your feet, your pedals, and
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and everything else like that. But most
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people are right-handed in countries
5:27
where you drive on the left. The driver
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sits on the right side of the road. This
5:31
allows a dominant hand to stay on the
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steering wheel. So, if you don't have
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the stick, you know, where you can see
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in America, driving a stick would be
5:38
easier if you had your your right hand
5:40
if you're right-handed to do it. But in
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other countries like this, you could see
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how you have an automatic car, you can
5:45
really use your right hand more as a
5:47
dominant hand for driving. you know,
5:50
safety and visibility. The art, you
5:52
know, many people say that, you know,
5:53
there there's there's better safety for
5:55
the left. I don't know, having driven on
5:57
both sides quite a bit. I, you know, I
6:00
am I am not quite sure if that's true,
6:02
but there's a lot of people that believe
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it is, but I can tell you once you are
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driving, you know, on the left-handed
6:08
side of the road, you you will very
6:09
easily adapt to being able to drive on
6:12
that side of the road. You know, you
6:14
might ask, well, why did some countries
6:16
switch? You know, not every country
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stayed consistent. Sweden drove on the
6:20
uh drove on the left side in 1967
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you know when it switched to the right
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side in a carefully choreographed
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national effort called uh D dog and H
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Samo on the other hand did the reverse
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in 2009 switching from right to left to
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align with Australia New Zealand the
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major car suppliers. So you know
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sometimes some of the car companies they
6:41
change for some reason Sweden changed
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because maybe you know they just they
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want to be with the rest of the world
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whereas you know Samoa changed because
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they want to be with Australia and New
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Zealand where they're getting a lot of
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their cars from you. You know the
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changes are rare and expensive and they
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can actually be quite confusing for
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people. That's why most countries will
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really stick to whatever side they
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started on. You know it's really not
7:04
about right or wrong. It's about
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consistency. And I think there's here's
7:07
where it comes and this is what I said
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before that when you've driven on like I
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have on both sides of the road and I
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actually drove a manual car, you know,
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with both on both sides of the road, you
7:19
learn to adapt and you learn to adapt
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quite quickly. One way I could always
7:23
tell was by the center line that you
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always make sure that your center line
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is by the driver's side of the road. and
7:29
that, you know, because sometimes when I
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would be in living in Thailand and
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coming back and I'd look down my
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parents' road where there were no cars
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and I'd be like confused, which side do
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I go on? But if you always remember that
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the drivers towards the center line,
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then that of course makes it a little
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bit easier. So, I don't know if it makes
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all that much difference as far as
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visibility and other things go. I don't
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know. I'd love to hear from you guys
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what you think whether it does or not.
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For me, I have found it, you know, very
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much the same. But it is something that
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you need to look at and understand. But
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I really felt like the history of this
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was really fascinating as to why some
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countries use the left side and why some
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countries drive on the right side of the
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road. There really is no right or wrong.
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It's all about consistency and what the
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rules of the law are for that country.
8:16
There about 65 countries and territories
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drive on the left, mainly in Asia,
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Africa, and Oceanana. That's about 30%
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of the world. So you think about that
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30% of the world is driving on the left
8:28
side of the road. So most of the world
8:30
is driving on the right side of the
8:31
road. So that should give you some type
8:33
of understanding of how much of the
8:36
world is actually driving on the right
8:38
side versus the left side of the road.
8:41
This is Anita from the Dusty Roads
8:43
podcast. We've hope that you've enjoyed
8:44
this. If you haven't had a chance yet,
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press that subscribe button. Join our
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