Why the British Drive on the Left

     Have you ever wondered why the British have not joined the rest of the world in driving on the right? Well, I´m not here to give you an answer to that, but I do have some interesting facts related to the popular question. For starters, I can tell you that joining "the rest of the world" is not quite accurate, since there is at least one country in each continent that still follows the "keep-left rule," as you can see in the picture (on the left, of course!). Secondly, if we look back in history, it is keeping left what has been used the longest and what made more sense before cars existed (and possibly even after).
     That´s right! The earliest evidence of road use comes from ancient Rome, and it suggests they kept left. Later, in medieval times, keeping left allowed the right-handed majority to comfortably mount their horses and get going (think about it... To mount a horse you first put your left foot on the stirrup and then mount, and if you do it from the sidewalk you´d be on the left of the road once on the saddle). Besides, meeting people on the road would always be more convenient if they were on your right hand side, whether you wanted to shake their hands or cross swords with them.
     It wasn´t until the late 1700´s that the rules began to change, mostly due to the use of large wagons driven by teams of horses in the United States. These wagons did not come with a driver seat, which meant the person who drove them had to mount the last horse on the left of the team. Keeping left meant severely reduced visibility for these wagon drivers, since other wagons and riders would be coming on the right hand side. Finally, in 1792, Pennsylvania passed a law declaring all wagon drivers and traffic in general were to keep right.
     The new "keep-right rule" quickly spread all over the Americas, but is unclear when and why it was established in Europe. What we do know is that is was first established in France during the Napoleonic period, and that it was Napoleon the one who spread it all over Europe as he expanded his empire. Years later, well into the 20th century, Germany became crucial to the spread of the keep-right rule both by forcing the new system in all invaded countries and by becoming the main car manufacturer in the world.
     Britain, and consequently all the countries the British conquered, never adopted the keep-right rule. This may have been because large wagons were never an option for England´s narrow urban streets and rural roads. Whatever the reason, according to research done in 1969, keeping left significantly reduces the risk of head-on collision, which means sticking to the old rule may be saving lots of lives.
     Now we know it´s not that the British (and all the countries influenced by them) stubbornly refuse to join the rest of the world, it is the rest of us who have changed the original rule!