Why do we drive on the left?

By Lewis on 4th August 2016 - View Comments

About 35% of the worlds population drive on the left. So some of you may wonder why in the UK we drive on the left, others just accept that we do and understand that mainland Europe drives on the right, but where does it all originate from…

Well, after some extensive research and interesting articles we can see that it all dates back the 1700s. The reasoning behind this is due to violence and attacks. Most people were right handed and so drivers of vehicles wanted to keep their right arm free in order to use their sword if an attack situation was to arise.

We were a little unsure of the strength of truth behind this but after a while it all began to make sense but for more information click here.

The U.K. is one of few countries that actually drive on the left whereas mainland Europe and America drive on the right. See out our blog on European driving here. You can clearly see on the map below how many countries drive on the right, countries in orange drive on the left.
You can see a detailed list of which countries drive on the left or right including miles or kilometres by clicking here. If you want more information about driving on the other side of the road then check out our blog on European driving here.

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