Have you ever thought about why in England the left-hand traffic? Well, in all the well-known and frequently visited countries, drivers drive on the right side, but on Foggy Albion otherwise. Why?
Tribute to tradition? But where did this habit come from and why did it take hold?
Why is there a left-hand drive in England ? Version one
Let's try to understand why the right-hand movement is predominantly widespread in the world, and then we will try to apply the obtained facts to the traditions of Great Britain.
In general, it should be noted that traditions of moving along the street arose long before mankind invented the car.
In accordance with one of the main versions, the right-wing movement could have arisen even in medieval Europe. It was then that on fairly narrow roads connecting settlements, courageous and strong riders rode their horses. Well, of course, each of them was armed.
Imagine such a warrior: on a well-coordinated horse proudly sits a middle-aged man, dressed in armor, in whose left hand a shield shines in the sun of gigantic dimensions. We think further. Most of the inhabitants of the planet are right-handed. It naturally follows from this that in the event of the slightest danger, the right hand was ready at any moment to snatch the sword from its sheath. Accordingly, to adhere to when moving had the right side. It is more comfortable.
But why did not the inhabitants of present-day Great Britain follow this principle? Let us examine one more hypothesis.
Why is there a left-hand drive in England? Second version
There is an opinion that this fact is directly related to the driving of horse-drawn carts and crews. The streets were so unsuitable for horse-drawn transport that the two drivers could not miss each other. Someone must have given way. To do this, they came up with a special rule according to which at a meeting everyone had to direct their crew towards the right side of the road.
Why right? Most likely, this was again due to the fact that for the majority of the inhabitants of our planet the right hand still dominates the left, so the reins were pulled by it.
This happened throughout Europe, so historians have come to the conclusion that the tradition has survived after the advent of radically new vehicles, the first cars.
And this option, apparently, by some completely ridiculous accident, also did not touch Misty Albion.
Why is there a left-hand drive in England? Third version
Now I propose to think about why neither the first nor the second version works in this state. But it is precisely it that is the legislator of the left-hand movement. Probably the whole thing is in its island location. The country has connected, and continues to communicate with the continent mainly through sea lanes. Shipping was actively developed there. Those. life of the country was subordinated in many respects to the maritime department, which once issued a decree that all vessels should keep to the left side when moving.
After some time, this law also extended to the emergence of ubiquitous roads, and later to countries that at different times came under British influence.
I also had to come across such a point of view that, they say, the government of this country was very concerned about the safety of its pedestrian citizens, therefore, in order not to accidentally touch the pedestrian with a horse whipping a horse, the driver had to control his cart or crew, keeping to the left side.
And in which countries does left movement still exist?
I note that in our country a single right-hand traffic (for pedestrians, cab drivers and carriages) was adopted in 1752 as a result of the decree of the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
In general, in the world there were quite frequent cases when the whole country had to re-adjust to the new rules. Why? If a state adjoined and actively maintained economic relations with its right-hand traffic neighbors, the government sooner or later had to decide on the adoption of common norms. For example, the former British colonies in Africa had to do the same. And after the end of the Japanese occupation, the direction of movement was changed in South Korea and the DPRK.
Sweden was the last country from this list, whose government approached this issue very consciously and carefully planned in advance all the necessary list of actions. Four years before the reform was introduced, a special commission was created, which was to develop and then implement a whole range of necessary measures. And finally, at the beginning of September 1967 at exactly 4:50 local time, all the country's transport was obliged to stop and resume traffic after 10 minutes, but on the right side of the road. In addition, a special speed-limiting mode was introduced at first.
Are there still left-handed countries? Yes. Moreover, these states are quite far from each other. Judge for yourself: Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, Japan and a number of countries on the African continent.
Residents of these states, of course, take this unusual direction of travel for granted, but tourists are most often advised not to risk it, but try to resort to the services of local drivers or taxi drivers.