mehall2

Hey Forum Members,

Looking at all the pictures of the new E60's out there got me thinking. It always freaks me out to see a right hand drive, E60. Being in America, and only exposed to left hand drivers, it is just so weird to see it any other way.

So, a couple of questions. Does anyone know if the First Cars where right hand or left hand drive?

How did Right Hand Drive become the norm in the U.K. and Japan? I

I guess I am looking for a brief history lesson here.

The other thing that is strange to me, is, the Key, the gas pedal, the brake pedal, are all the same, it is just as if you moved the whole drivers compartment only, with the exception of the gear shifter.

You would think it would be mirror imaged.

Anyway, any info to satisfy my ignorance would be appreciated.

Regards, Mike.

m5lover

I come from asia and i use to drive right hand always.Upon coming to the states and experiencing the left hand drive, its kind of strange.At first i always tend to drive to the left side of the road always for a couple of time .but the adjustment is not that hard.Driving perfectly fine now!
I think theres rhd and lhd due to the roads of each country being different. In asia we always drive in the left side of a 2 way road but on the other hand we drive right side in a 2 way road. First time driving here in the US, i almost made a turn to the wrong lane!
Hope it helps!

AC_S5

I was born in Hong Kong, grew up and learn to drive in Canada, but now driving everyday in Hong Kong. I can say that there's nothing that freaks me out the first time I drive RH. The rule of thumb is to remind yourself you always have to be in the middle of the road, if you see curb on your side than you are driving in the wrong lane.

The first car I think is made in the U.K. so has to be RHD, correct me if I am wrong. France is the first country that have carriage goes up on the right and down on the left which means LHD, people say the reason for it is because Napolean is a lefty so when he ride his horse he could use his left hand to defend himself with a sword, think about it, if carriage where to go up on the left and down on the right it would pose a problem for him using a sword. American being a colony that gain freedom from a revolution of course will beg to differ from the U.K. and hence like France have carriage go up on the right and down on the left which resulted in LHD. As for Japan, domestic cars are RHD but imported cars like E60 is LHD so there's really no history from that, but they do go up on the left and down on the right.

FYI my E60 have key on the right, gas right, brake left, gear shift left, turning indicator left, wipers stalk left, star and romb (is that what it is call) button on the right, volume button on the left, even our wipers are LHD bias which mean the wiper starts from the right going left. So you are right in the BMW they just switch the whole thing to the right for RHD instead of making a mirror version as the Japs would do for their U.S. market cars. But the trend of the automaker now follows BMW everything is LHD bias since RHD market are small compare with LHD markets.

But gas will always be on the right despite the change in the current trend

Hope the post wasn't too long.

stream

Here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_hand_drive

mehall2

Wow! Thanks for all the replies. I love hearing the personal experiences as well. Stream, the link you posted, was most infomative. I thought there would be a pretty short and simple answer.

I really didn't realize so many variables existed in RHD vs LHD. Pretty interesting reading. The sword carrying really was interesting and made sense. Napolean's Left Handedness also made sense.

I find it interesting how history and events, the human race's quirks, can have such an impact on a relatively simple, yet profound decision of where the steering wheel goes and what side of the road you drive on.

Thanks, All. Mike.

Merv the Derv

Living in the UK I drive on the left which of course feels totally natural to me, when I go to mainland Europe and hire a LHD car it also feels natural to drive on the right because I'm sitting on the left, if that makes sense. Right hand bends feel a bit weird as the car leans in an alien way and feels as though its going to tip over due to me sitting on the outside. Also traffic islands take some getting used to as the traffic comes from the other side and and you have to be really careful. Driving in the USA is more user friendly to drivers used to driving on the left as there are no islands to contend with and the roads are fairly straight.
I recently took my own car to Germany and that felt totally un-natural as you're sitting in the gutter.

I remember seeing a TV programme about a European Country where they used to drive LHD cars on the left but changed it overnight due to the accident rate. Throughout one night they changed every road sign and markings to the right hand side. Unbelievable. I can't remember which country it was. Anyone know?

535D Sport

Sweden had left-hand traffic (V?nstertrafik in Swedish) from approximately 1734, when they changed back from a short period of right-hand traffic starting in 1718. This well into the 20th century, despite the fact that virtually all the cars on the road in Sweden were actually LHD. One argument for this was that it was necessary to keep an eye on the edge of the road, something that was important on the narrow roads in use back then. Also, Sweden's neighbours, Norway, Finland and Denmark already had cars driving on the right side, leading to confusion at border crossings. In 1955 a referendum was held on the issue, resulting in an 82.9%-to-15.5% vote against a change to driving on the right.

Nevertheless, in 1963 the Swedish government passed legislation ordering the switch to right-hand traffic. The changeover took place at 5am on Sunday, September 3, 1967, which was known in Swedish as Dagen H (H-Day), the 'H' being for H?gertrafik or right-hand traffic.

Since Swedish cars were LHD, experts had suggested that changing to driving on the right would be safer, because drivers would have a better view of the road ahead. Indeed, fatal car-to-car and car-to-pedestrian accidents dropped sharply as a result. However, the accident rate rose back to its original position within two years.

Iceland
Sweden's fellow Nordic country Iceland followed in switching traffic from left to right at 6am on Sunday, May 26, 1968. The only major casualty from the changeover was a boy on a bicycle who broke his leg (New York Times, May 28, 1968, p. 94). Numerous buses were also stuck in traffic jams.

Member545

Sweden "Dagen H" on 3 september 1967. H is h?ger, which is swedish for right.