In which countries do cars drive on the right?

Cars in most countries in the world drive on the right, and there are 166 countries and regions that drive on the right.

People who drive on the right are mostly typical continental countries, such as the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France, Brazil, etc.; those who drive on the left are mostly typical island countries, peninsulas, and subcontinental countries: the United Kingdom, Japan, India, and Pakistan. , Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

There are 77 countries and regions on the left: Japan, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, South Africa, etc., mainly Commonwealth countries.

In fact, China was also a left-hand country in the beginning. In ancient times, pedestrians, carriages and horses generally walked on the left side. Because the ancients paid attention to etiquette, in ancient times it was generally "right-oriented". People used their right hands to salute each other, so they stood or walked on the left. Another reason is that the ancients wanted to avoid hurting pedestrians when riding horses and whipping their whips, so Also the habit of riding on the left side of the stroke.

In the 1920s and 1930s, cars began to flow into the country, and these vehicles were mainly British. Therefore, it was also stipulated that all vehicles should drive on the left.

In 1945, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the government at that time promulgated new traffic regulations: Vehicle Road Walk on the right. This regulation is still in use today.

Most of the countries and regions in the world that drive on the left are former colonies of the British Empire. Once upon a time, driving on the left was the mainstream of the world.

In the past Western countries, basically everyone walked on the left side of the road because it was the wisest choice in the violent feudal society of the West.

Since most people are right handed, those knights prefer to walk on the left, so that their right hand is closer to the potential opponent and the scabbard is further away from the opponent. At the same time, this can also prevent the scabbard from hitting people walking on the opposite side when everyone is walking on the road.

The biggest advantage of walking left comes from the human body's danger-avoiding instinct: when a person is moving forward quickly, if he suddenly finds danger ahead, he will instinctively lean to the left, which is beneficial to protecting the heart. .

On the highway, if a driver sees a large car approaching in front of him, he will turn to the left much faster than to the right, so that he is more likely to avoid the danger.

The advantage of driving on the right is that it is convenient for the driver to maintain control of the steering wheel with his left hand, and at the same time, he can use his left hand to complete complex actions such as shifting gears and operating the instrument panel. Since most people are right-handed, it is more advantageous to drive to the right.

The origin of "left":

Whether to go on the right or on the left is not fixed at the beginning, but the result of long-term evolution. According to the British, their left-hand driving can be traced back to the ancient Roman Empire. In medieval Europe, whether to stay on the left or on the right was primarily based on the habits of the knights.

For one thing, when people ride horses, it is customary to put their left foot in the stirrup first, and then their right foot. Naturally, they must mount on the left side of the road;

Furthermore, the knight’s task is to always For the sake of face and beauty, they rode horses and held spears to duel. The standard fighting posture of knights was to hold the weapon in the right hand and the shield and rein in the left hand. To assassinate the opponent conveniently, naturally he had to lean to the left of the road.

The historical reason why Japan keeps to the left is similar to this. Although samurai do not duel for beauties, they often face duels like European knights. The samurai sword is on the left side, making it easier to draw the sword with the right hand. There is a fragile gap on the left side of the body. Naturally, walking to the left can cover the gap for attack and defense.

Napoleon created the "right wing":

Before the French Revolution, the carriages of French nobles were also accustomed to traveling on the left. In the eyes of the oppressed people at the bottom, "keep to the left" means nobility and privilege, while "keep to the right" means "revolution." So, the French Revolution started, and vehicles moved to the right.

After Napoleon came to power, he launched a war to conquer Europe. Wherever France occupied, it brought the right-hand rule to Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Belgium and so on.

Since Napoleon, Europe no longer collectively engages in "Left leaning". Similarly, Britain also brought its left-wing norm to its vast colonies, such as India, Pakistan, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, etc., which unswervingly followed the "left" route.

The United States changes the "left and right" Among the many British colonies, the United States is an exception.

Since the United States only achieved national independence after years of war with Britain, and France gave some help in it, in order to completely draw a clear line with Britain, the United States started from the "left" of road transportation at the beginning of the founding of the country. Become "rightist".

Due to the need for car driving to observe road conditions, driving on the right or driving on the left determines the difference between "left-hand drive" and "right-hand drive". The United States is the birthplace of the modern automobile industry. American "left-hand drive" cars are continuously dumped all over the world. This determines to a considerable extent whether many countries drive on the left or on the right.

Before 1945, all people in China drove on the left. This is because China at that time was mainly the British sphere of influence. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, American cars began to enter China in large numbers, and "left-hand drive" vehicles suddenly gained a numerical advantage. Therefore, the Nationalist Government ordered that starting from January 1, 1946, all cars drive on the right.

After American vehicles arrive in China, if they continue to drive on the left, the steering wheel and lights must be modified, and this requires a lot of modification costs.

As stated in the "Declaration" on December 31, 1945: "The modification fee must reach 12% of the vehicle price. According to statistics, the cost of vehicle modification across the country is extremely huge, so saving The cost of modification is also to change to drive on the right. "

The "one country, two systems" of road traffic. Due to historical reasons, Hong Kong is "left" in terms of traffic rules, while the mainland is "right".

As a result, after Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, the mainland and Hong Kong also adopted the "one country, two systems" solution to road traffic problems. Mainland vehicles entering Hong Kong must drive on the left side of Hong Kong's rules. On the contrary, Hong Kong vehicles entering the mainland must also follow the local customs.

This will cause a lot of inconvenience. Although there are clear sector signs at the junction between Hong Kong and the Mainland, due to the heavy traffic, it is difficult for the two approaching convoys to change their routes while entering the country.

So, people came up with such a solution. That is, a special bridge was built at the junction of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Incoming cars only need to drive according to the original road rules. After the clever transfer of the bridge, the "right-leaning" cars will naturally "lean left" when they arrive in Hong Kong, and the "right-leaning" cars will naturally "lean left" when they arrive in Hong Kong. "Left leaning" becomes "right leaning".

Extended information:

In November 1948, Chen Yun, member of the Standing Committee of the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and director of the Military Control Commission of Shenyang Special City, led 4,000 cadres into Shenyang to carry out the reception work.

When discussing whether cars should drive on the left or the right on the road, there were different opinions within the Military Control Commission. Previously, both urban and rural areas in the Northeast Liberated Areas required cars to drive on the left side, while cars in all cities in the Kuomintang-controlled areas within Shenyang and Shanhaiguan were required to drive on the right side.

The reason for advocating that cars drive on the left side is that cars in the Northeast Liberated Areas and Harbin and other places all drive on the left side. Army drivers and drivers in the above places have the habit of driving on the left side.

Nowadays, many active-duty soldiers and demobilized soldiers from the liberated areas drive on Shenyang’s roads. If cars are required to drive on the right, these drivers will inevitably not adapt, which may cause traffic chaos.

The reason for those who advocate that cars drive on the right side is that after the takeover of Shenyang, the original traffic police in the city were basically retained, and they are accustomed to directing traffic according to the rules of cars passing on the right side. If cars are required to pass on the left side, traffic accidents will inevitably occur due to the command of the traffic police.

To this end, Chen Yun convened two meetings to listen to the opinions of all parties, and specifically sought out professionals in automobile design and manufacturing to understand the situation.

Professionals told Chen Yun that in the early stages of the development of the automobile industry, the steering wheel was on the right, so it was suitable for traffic on the left; as car design continued to improve, the position of the steering wheel moved to the left, so the car became Started to keep to the right.

After understanding the situation, Chen Yun considered that big cities such as Peking, Tianjin, Nanjing, and Shanghai will gradually return to the embrace of the people, and car traffic will become a national transportation problem. Therefore, solving this problem must take a long-term approach and adapt to the development trend of the automobile industry.

In order to avoid more traffic accidents across the country in the future, cars should be required to drive on the right.

Subsequently, Chen Yun convened another meeting of the Military Control Commission, at which he gave a detailed explanation of the pros and cons of whether cars should drive on the left or the right, both locally and overall, and at present and in the future. Comprehensive analysis.

After listening to his speech, the participants felt that his speech was reasonable and they were all convinced. Due to the unified thinking, everyone unanimously agreed that cars should drive on the right side.

Afterwards, Chen Yun requested the formulation of new rules and new measures for cars to pass on the right side to reduce traffic accidents to a minimum. Since then, liberated places across the country have implemented the rule that cars drive on the right side.

Reference materials: People's Daily Online - Chen Yun presided over the formulation of rules for cars to keep to the right