Originally Posted by 68pawm' post='237568' date='Feb 9 2006, 11:53 PM

The origins of left / right side goes something like this -

in the days of jousting in merry old england most Knights were right handed so it made sense to pass another knight travelling in the oposite direction by being on the left with your big stick under your right arm.

this convention was universal and continued for many years until Napolean came along, who was left handed and who ordered his army to march and do battle on the right hand side.

so at this point there were two different conventions which more or less have remained the same to this day.

this is what i remember reading some while ago but someone correct me if i am wrong.

Originally Posted by Nova Invicta' post='236398' date='Feb 7 2006, 10:42 PM

Where you will find RH drive BMW 5-Series.

The manufacturers are talking bullsh.t about RH drive cars and needing to charge a premium, 79 countries & Islands drive on the left-hand side of the road, among them India, Indonesia, Japan etc with some pretty big populations, as does Great Britain, South Africa, New Zealand & Australia.
The list of countries taken from this guy on the web:-

The following is a list of countries and the side of the road on which they drive. The original source of the list is unknown to me, but it has been updated over the years thanks to the contributions of many Internet users who have visited these countries and reported what they saw. I have deliberately not given dates for countries that have changed sides because this would involve simply copying extensively from Kincaid's Rule of the Road. If you want to know more about any country's individual history, see Kincaid's book.

R Drive on the right-hand side of the road (and mostly the driver sits on the left side of the car).
L Drive on the left-hand side of the road (and mostly the driver sits on the right side of the car).

R Afghanistan
R Albania
R Algeria
R American Samoa
R Andorra
R Angola
L Anguilla
L Antigua and Barbuda
R Argentina
R Armenia
R Aruba
L Australia
R Austria
R Azerbaijan
L Bahamas
R Bahrain
L Bangladesh
L Barbados
R Belarus
R Belgium
R Belize
R Benin
L Bermuda
L Bhutan
R Bolivia
R Bosnia and Herzegovina
L Botswana
R Brazil
R British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia)
L Brunei
R Bulgaria
R Burkina Faso
R Burundi
R Cambodia
R Cameroon
R Canada
R Cape Verde
L Cayman Islands
R Central African Republic
R Chad
R Chile
R China, People's Republic of (Mainland China)
L Christmas Island (Australia)
L Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)
R Colombia
R Comoros
R Congo
L Cook Islands
R Costa Rica
R Croatia
R Cuba
L Cyprus
R Czech Republic
R Denmark
R Djibouti
L Dominica
R Dominican Republic
L East Timor
R Ecuador
R Egypt
R El Salvador
R Equatorial Guinea
R Eritrea
R Estonia
R Ethiopia
L Falkland Islands
R Faroe Islands (Denmark)
L Fiji
R Finland
R France
R French Guiana
R French Polynesia
R Gabon
R Gambia, The
R Gaza Strip
R Georgia
R Germany
R Ghana
R Gibraltar
R Greece
R Greenland
L Grenada
R Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
R Guam
R Guatemala
L Guernsey (Channel Islands)
R Guinea
R Guinea-Bissau
L Guyana
R Haiti
R Honduras
L Hong Kong
R Hungary
R Iceland
L India
L Indonesia
R Iran
R Iraq
L Ireland
R Israel
L Isle of Man
R Italy
R Ivory Coast
L Jamaica
L Japan
L Jersey (Channel Islands)
R Jordan
R Kazakhstan
L Kenya
L Kiribati
R Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North Korea)
R Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
R Kuwait
R Kyrgyzstan
R Laos
R Latvia
R Lebanon
L Lesotho
R Liberia
R Libya
R Liechtenstein
R Lithuania
R Luxembourg
L Macau
R Macedonia
R Madagascar
L Malawi
L Malaysia
L Maldives
R Mali
L Malta
R Marshall Islands
R Martinique (French West Indies)
R Mauritania
L Mauritius
R Mayotte (France)
R Mexico
R Micronesia, Federated States of
R Midway Islands (USA)
R Moldova
R Monaco
R Mongolia
L Montserrat
R Morocco
L Mozambique
R Myanmar (Burma)
L Namibia
L Nauru
L Nepal
R Netherlands
R Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba)
R New Caledonia
L New Zealand
R Nicaragua
R Niger
R Nigeria
L Niue
L Norfolk Island (Australia)
R Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan)
R Norway
R Oman
L Pakistan
R Palau
R Panama
L Papua New Guinea
R Paraguay
R Peru
R Philippines
L Pitcairn Islands (Britain)
R Poland
R Portugal
R Puerto Rico
R Qatar
R Reunion
R Romania
R Russia
R Rwanda
R Saint Barth?lemy (French West Indies)
L Saint Helena
L Saint Kitts and Nevis
L Saint Lucia
R Saint Martin (French West Indies)
R Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
L Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
R Samoa
R San Marino
R Sao Tome e Principe
R Saudi Arabia
R Senegal
L Seychelles
R Sierra Leone
L Singapore
R Slovakia
R Slovenia
L Solomon Islands
R Somalia (a part of Somalia trying to assert independence, Somaliland, also drives on the right)
L South Africa
R Spain
L Sri Lanka
R Sudan
L Suriname
R Svalbard (Norway)
L Swaziland
R Sweden
R Switzerland
R Syria
R Taiwan
R Tajikistan
L Tanzania
L Thailand
R Togo
L Tokelau (New Zealand)
L Tonga
L Trinidad and Tobago
R Tunisia
R Turkey
R Turkmenistan
L Turks and Caicos Islands
L Tuvalu
L Uganda
R Ukraine
R United Arab Emirates
L United Kingdom
R United States
R Uruguay
R Uzbekistan
R Vanuatu
R Venezuela
R Vietnam
L Virgin Islands (British)
L Virgin Islands (US)
R Wake Island (USA)
R Wallis and Futuna Islands [Fr.]
R West Bank
R Western Sahara (ex Spanish Sahara)
R Yemen
R Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)
R Zaire
L Zambia
L Zimbabwe

Exceptions:- US moon buggies

Originally Posted by BangleBox_530d' post='237725' date='Feb 10 2006, 08:06 AM

I remember when visiting a car museum in the UK that old US cars were right hand drive. As far as I know, the US used to drive on the left, and then for some reason changed. A long time ago though. Is that correct though?

I also heard that the French used to drive on the left, and then changed "because they could".

Japanese cars (Subaru at least) in the UK also have the indicators/windscreen controls swapped. When I was in Australia I always wondered why the Fiat was "wrong". Now every time I go back to Australia, I always struggle with that. But for me driving on the right is very easy whenever I go to the continent.