4 ms·

I can't think of any apart from marginal production costs for right hand drive. I can think of negatives though. For one, people for the most part are right ey

I can't think of any apart from marginal production costs for right hand drive. I can think of negatives though. For one, people for the most part are right eye and right hand dominant. That means that they can drive better on the left side of the road - if you look at racing cars where the driver can drive in any orientation, they generally historically had the gear stick on the left because you want your right hand on the steering wheel. Having your dominant right eye have a better field of view of the road and oncoming lane helps too. Despite being one of the more densely populated countries in Europe, UK accident rates are well below almost everywhere else in Europe let alone the world. I don't think this is because UK road infrastructure is superior to eg. German road infrastructure - I think it is because we drive in a more "natural" position. Driving on the left would mean chaos in the short term and then make our accident rates slightly worse for all eternity afterwards. Not really worth it?

mattmanser 7y ago
Think it's more likely because we stick to the rules more than most countries. For example I was in Italy a few weeks ago and there's some weird risks they take where they think it's fine to cross the other lane of traffic when turning even when something's close and barrelling at them at full speed. A few seconds saved where a small distraction in the other driver could cause a side on collision. I'd also be interested to see how those rates compare historically, I only drive occasionally and it's very noticeable that the UK is now plastered in speed cameras compared to even 10 years ago.
- JetSetWilly 7y ago
  Not so sure because it also holds for highly rule-abiding countries like Japan, the Netherlands, Germany etc.
  - mattmanser 7y ago
    Interesting! Sounds like a compelling argument then, and a tragic happenstance so many places chose the wrong side.

mattmanser 7y ago

Think it's more likely because we stick to the rules more than most countries. For example I was in Italy a few weeks ago and there's some weird risks they take where they think it's fine to cross the other lane of traffic when turning even when something's close and barrelling at them at full speed. A few seconds saved where a small distraction in the other driver could cause a side on collision. I'd also be interested to see how those rates compare historically, I only drive occasionally and it's very noticeable that the UK is now plastered in speed cameras compared to even 10 years ago.

JetSetWilly 7y ago
Not so sure because it also holds for highly rule-abiding countries like Japan, the Netherlands, Germany etc.
- mattmanser 7y ago
  Interesting! Sounds like a compelling argument then, and a tragic happenstance so many places chose the wrong side.