It is a weird feeling. You hop off a plane in London or Tokyo, grab a rental car, and suddenly your brain has to flip a switch. You’re sitting on the "wrong" side of the car, shifting gears with your left hand, and praying you don't turn into oncoming traffic at the first roundabout. Most of the world drives on the right, but about 35% of the global population lives in countries with right hand driving.
Why? It isn't just a quirk of history. It’s actually the original way of doing things.
In the medieval era, if you were riding a horse, you wanted your right hand free to draw a sword. Since most people are right-handed, riding on the left side of the road meant you could defend yourself against anyone coming toward you. It was a matter of survival. The switch to the right side of the road—which we now consider "standard"—came much later, fueled by revolution, massive freight wagons, and a certain short-statured French emperor.
👉 See also: Marin County California Map: What Most People Get Wrong
The Napoleon Factor and the Great Global Split
Napoleon Bonaparte had a massive chip on his shoulder and a lot of territory to conquer. Before him, much of Europe stayed to the left. But Napoleon was left-handed. He found it easier to stay on the right so his sword arm was ready for anyone approaching from the other side. As he marched through Europe, he forced every nation he conquered to switch sides.
The British, naturally, refused to follow anything a Frenchman suggested. They stuck to their guns and their left-hand traffic laws.
This stubbornness is why we have such a fractured map today. If a country was colonized by Britain, it likely kept the left-hand rule. If it was influenced by France or later by the United States’ automotive boom, it went right. Honestly, it’s basically a map of 19th-century geopolitical grudges.
Think about India. With over 1.4 billion people, it is the largest of the countries with right hand driving. The British influence there was so deep that the infrastructure was built entirely around the left-hand side. Changing it now would be an absolute nightmare. Can you imagine trying to switch the flow of traffic in Mumbai? It would be chaos. Pure, unadulterated chaos.
The Weird Case of Sweden and "Dagen H"
Sweden is the ultimate outlier in this story. Up until 1967, Sweden was one of the few places in mainland Europe that still drove on the left. But there was a massive problem: all their neighbors (Norway, Finland) drove on the right. Plus, most Swedes were buying cars with the steering wheel on the left side because that’s what was available from international manufacturers.
It was a recipe for head-on collisions.
On September 3, 1967—known as Dagen H (Högertrafikomläggningen)—the entire country swapped sides overnight. At 4:50 AM, all traffic was ordered to stop. Drivers carefully moved from the left side of the road to the right. At 5:00 AM, they were allowed to start driving again. Surprisingly, there wasn't a huge spike in accidents. People were so terrified of messing up that they drove incredibly slowly and carefully.
Where You’ll Find Right Hand Driving Today
If you're planning a road trip, you need to know where the rules change. It’s not just the UK and Australia. The list is long and scattered across the globe.
- The United Kingdom and Ireland: The OGs of left-side driving.
- Japan: Never a British colony, but they chose the left because their early railway system was built by British engineers. Also, Samurai tradition dictated walking on the left to avoid clashing swords in narrow streets.
- Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea.
- Africa: South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are the big ones here.
- Southeast Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
- The Caribbean: The Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica.
It’s worth noting that the term "Right Hand Driving" can be confusing. To be crystal clear: in these countries, you drive on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. If you're looking for a rental, you're looking for an RHD (Right-Hand Drive) vehicle.
The Economics of Staying on the Left
You might wonder why countries with right hand driving don't just switch to match the rest of the world. It’s easier for trade, right?
Well, no. It’s expensive.
Take Samoa. They actually switched to the left in 2009. Why? Because it made it cheaper to import used cars from Japan and Australia. But for a country like Thailand or the UK, the cost of reconfiguring every highway exit, every traffic light, and every bus door would be in the billions.
And then there's the psychological factor. People hate changing their habits. In 2005, a study by the TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) looked into the logistics of the UK switching to the right. They basically concluded it was a non-starter. The sheer volume of signage and the complexity of London’s junctions meant it would take decades to implement correctly.
Island Isolation Helps
Islands have it easy. Since they don't share land borders with "right-side" countries, there's no pressure to change. This is why places like Cyprus and Malta haven't budged. They exist in their own little bubble where the left-hand rule works just fine.
But look at a place like Gibraltar. It’s a British territory, but it switched to the right in 1929 because it shares a land border with Spain. They realized that having thousands of cars crossing a border and needing to swap sides every day was a disaster waiting to happen.
Safety and the Left-Hand Advantage
There is a small but vocal group of researchers who argue that driving on the left is actually safer.
Why? Because the human eye is typically right-eye dominant. When you drive on the left, your right eye—the stronger one—is the one monitoring oncoming traffic and the driver's side mirror.
Stephen Bayley, a noted design critic, has often pointed out that the mechanical layout of an RHD car is more ergonomic for a right-handed majority. You use your stronger right hand to steer and your left hand for the secondary task of shifting gears. Whether that actually reduces crash rates is up for debate, but the theory is fascinating.
Real-World Tips for Navigating RHD Countries
If you’re a "righty" visiting one of these countries for the first time, don't panic. You'll get it. But there are a few things that will definitely trip you up.
- The Windshield Wipers: In many RHD cars, the blinker and the wiper stalks are swapped. You will inevitably try to signal a turn and end up scrubbing a dry windshield while your passengers laugh at you.
- The "Hug the Line" Habit: You will naturally want to drift toward the center of the road because that’s where you’re used to being positioned in the lane. You have to consciously remind yourself to stay closer to the curb than you think.
- Roundabouts: This is the big one. You enter to the left. You yield to the right. It feels completely backwards. Just follow the car in front of you.
Honestly, the hardest part isn't the driving; it's the walking. If you're from the US or Germany, you'll instinctively look left before crossing the street. In countries with right hand driving, that mistake can be fatal. You must look right first. Most major cities like London have "LOOK RIGHT" painted on the pavement at crosswalks specifically because tourists keep almost getting flattened by double-decker buses.
👉 See also: What Time Is It Afghanistan Kabul: Why Most People Get It Wrong
Actionable Insights for Your Next Trip
If you're heading to a country that drives on the left, do these things to stay safe:
- Book an Automatic: Don't try to learn to shift gears with your left hand while also trying to navigate a foreign city. It’s too much cognitive load. Spend the extra money for the automatic transmission.
- Follow the Leader: When in doubt, just wait for another car to go and follow their path.
- The "Driver to the Center" Rule: No matter what side of the road you are on, the driver should always be toward the center of the road. If you find yourself next to the sidewalk, you’re on the wrong side.
- Use a GPS: You need your brain free to focus on the road mechanics. Don't waste energy trying to read street signs or maps. Let the voice guidance tell you which lane to be in.
The world isn't going to settle on one side of the road anytime soon. The divide between the right-side majority and the countries with right hand driving is a permanent fixture of our geography. It’s a reminder of colonial history, samurai traditions, and the sheer power of doing things "the way they've always been done."
When you get behind the wheel in Australia or Japan, you aren't just driving; you're participating in a centuries-old defiance of Napoleon's ego. Embrace the weirdness. Just remember to look right.