4 ms·
Wikipedia "Left- and right-hand traffic" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic
by LeoPanthera 2y ago
Wikipedia "Left- and right-hand traffic"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic
Historically, many places kept left, while many others kept right, often within the same country. There are many myths that attempt to explain why one or the other is preferred. About 90 percent of people are right-handed, and many explanations reference this. Horses are traditionally mounted from the left, and led from the left, with the reins in the right hand. So people walking horses might use RHT, to keep the animals separated. Also referenced is the need for pedestrians to keep their swords in the right hand and pass on the left as in LHT, for self-defence. It has been suggested that wagon-drivers whipped their horses with their right hand, and thus sat on the left-hand side of the wagon, as in RHT. Academic Chris McManus notes that writers have stated that in the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII directed pilgrims to keep left; however, others suggest that he directed them to keep to the right, and there is no documented evidence to back either claim.
- NeoTar 2y agoThis has the ring-of-truth to me. There were different patterns of local conventions and over time as it became important for large-areas to follow the same convention, these homogenized.
- amelius 2y agoBeware, it is easy to come up with explanations that have a ring-of-truth.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]