Romans work both sides of the roads, and it all depend on where you are, There are other counties that drive on the same side as UK like Japan, bits of China, Australia, New Zealand, 1/3 of Africa, Caribbean islands Atlantic Islands few Med Island and Pacific Island, a bit of South America
If you look at any picture of a stage coach, or watch any western movie, the driver always sits on the right and the guard is on the left. Again, it's a handedness thing; if they sat the other way around the the driver would clout the guard on the head every time he used his whip (mostly). Britain simply kept up this right hand drive tradition, thus driving on the left...putting the driver near the centre of the road where it's easier to see around the vehicle in front. The whip being used in the middle is also less likely to get caught in any nearby shrubbery.
"When the rest of the world doesn't"......Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bermuda, Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Fiji, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Lesotho, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United States Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe....has entered the chat 😉
And at one time half of Europe did. The reason former Dutch colony Indonesia drives on the left is because their former Dutch masters did, the same with formerly Portuguese Macao and so on
Don't forget to mention that 4 of those countries are amongst the 8 highest populations in the world (India, Indonesia, Pakistan & Bangladesh), together just those four account for over 2 billion people & >25 % of the global population. That may be a minority, but it's a large minority!
The reason is quit simples Alanna! Two lines of cavelery coming toward each other. Which side do you wear your sword.... yes on the left, so if you are fighting the other column then you have to wheel the horses round because when you draw you sword it is now in the right hand. If you ride on the left the drawn swords are on the correct side, and you can get on with it. As I said Simples!!
As a British colony, parts of Canada drove on the left until the 1920's. Newfoundland was the last holdout - they drove on the left until in 1947.14 Feb 2013
An interesting and well researched video. In the early 80s I was performing at a folk festival based around 3 villages in very rural, then, West Germany. The locals would drive on the left in the confines of the 3 villages swerving over to the right as they left. It was all quite frightening.
Have you also noticed, the railways, they travel on the left in the UK! Any railway systems around the world, if the trains travel on the left, it was usually installed by the British 😊
Or the French. They copied the British, had the first high speed rail system in Europe and set the standard for high speed rail in Europe. And, along with the Japanese who also drive on the left, in China.
There are safety benefits to driving on the left. Any time you just have one hand on the wheel .e.g changing gear, adjusting the stereo, sat nav, etc your right hand remains on the wheel.
No, the right hand is holding a coffee or sandwich, the knee keeps the car straight while changing gear...which is difficult as the left is the phone hand.😉
I've always thought keeping to the left when walking makes sense so when approaching another person you can shake hands, bump fists, high five, link elbows and dance in a circle, etc, whatever you like. It's a good way to greet people.
The 'left' bias also features in left handed spiral staircases in Castles, which made it easier for the defenders using swords, but more awkward for the attacker.
Fun fact: I believe the only road in England where you drive on the right hand side is Savoy Court leading to The Savoy hotel in London for ease of dropping off passengers. However it is on private land.
There have been several roads in the UK which drove on the right...usually as part of some kind of traffic management system. Until recently The Hale in Tottenham was an example.
It dates back to Queen Victoria who didn't want to walk across the road as it was raining. So she ordered the car to drive up the right side and it stuck (as in driving on the right stuck. Not the car got stuck). And if you believe that you'll believe anything cos I just made it up.
Correct, but most of the private cars that drive down past the theatre to the hotel are super prestige vehicles and are usually dropping off the incredibly wealthy, nobility, top celebrities etc. at the theatre or hotel.
Between 68 and 76 countries also drive on the left…(depending on who supplies the correct information 😂)…. Either way it amounts to a third is the world’s population driving on the left…..😮🎉❤
Fun little video Alanna. Personal I am glad we have stuck to the left here in the UK as I would get extremely confused if they were ever to swap us over to the right. Having said that I get the feeling that a lot of people on the roads these days haven't got a clue what side of the road they are supposed to be on anyway. 😆
the inaccuracies of early weapons meant due to the trouble with highwaymen to ensure better pistol accuracy and be closer to your target travelling on the left meant the right hand would be closer to the target.
Hi,here's something that may not be true but I will post it anyway. Owners of horse drawn carriages like taxis in London swapped from sitting on the left (Kerb side) to the right (Middle of the road) to stop pedestrians getting hit with whips. As petrol taxis started to replace horses the steering wheel was put on the right hand side because that's where the taxi drivers were used to sitting.
I found in Malta that drivers will travel on whichever is the shady side of the road. This can be terrifying as you wait for the other driver to switch to the left!
I heard that one of the reasons Samoa switched to driving on the left is they wanted to buy cars straight from Japanese factories. Of course Japan also drives onthe left and thus has their wheels on the right.
@@Cayles764 I am surprised that this isn't more common in other countries. I am looking at buying a left hand drive car, not just for fun but useful for recording inadequate traffic lights.
Interesting fact, the 70’s sci fi series UFO had pre and post 1970’s clips and the cars in the flashbacks were right hand drive while the modern cars were left hand drive and the reason was at the time of making the series it was generally thought that the uk would switch sides sooner rather than later… that theory went well
Sorry. One more comment: I lived and worked in the USA for almost 14 years. I made business trips to the UK periodically, and I found it very easy to switch sides. It was easy because the steering wheel is on the other side too.
About 35% of the world drives on the left & a couple of countries that currently drive on the right will likely switch in the coming years like Myanmar, South Sudan, & Rwanda due to majority of cars on their roads being made for left hand traffic & majority of their neighbours driving on that side. Also Kiribati & Okinawa in Japan switched to driving to the left in the 1970s
Interesting video, Alanna. Japan drives on the left, despite never being associated with the UK. It means a lot of second-hand Japanese cars have the steering wheel on the right, which is handy for countries that import them - including Samoa!
It is actually associated with the UK. Japan hired English engineers to build their first railroads in the 1870s, and those engineers naturally built the rails for left hand travel. The Japanese simply adopted what they were doing on the rails to the road when the automobile turned up a few decades later.
Really interesting about why we used to walk on the left in the UK, and the horse thing, I didnt know that! 😊 Thank you for all of your research! Fascinating! 👏👍👌
Even in St. John in the US Virgin Islands they drive on the left, the donkeys have the historic right of way and use the right hand lane going up and down the hills.
I am British and I have just joined your channel you probably know more then most brits so thank you so much for great and informative and entertaining content I am here to stay
because that is the rule of the sea - the same is true in UK estuaries or anywhere else at sea. Interestingly, some European rail lines run the left side. I noticed it in Portugal, but some other countries do too
Driving on the left is the way friendly people drive, because when you stop for a chat with a car, it’s your right hand that’s out the window to shake hands with.
Another reason why it may feel natural to drive on the left is because that's how we read and write. We start from the left, reach the end of the line, and then jump back to the left for the following line. (apart from Arabic) The margin is also typically on the left.
In the northern hemisphere, if you look south, the sun will rise on your left, and set on your right. And that's also how we write. Semitic languages, on the other hand, follow the moon, which waxes and wanes from right to left.
One factor was motor car safety related. Most people are right handed, driving on the left means your strongest hand stays on the wheel while changing gear with the left hand.
The other thing that archeologists find consistently is that tracks leading away from mines are more heavily rutted on the left, indicating that the laden carts were driven on the correct side of the road.
My mother was left handed, but at school in Scotland, the teachers would smack her hand painfully with a ruler if they saw her using her left hand! Left handedness was seen by some as witchcraft in those days. Great video ! !
The Latin word for "left" is "sinistra". It's where we get the word Sinister. The Roman Church (and the Anglican) can be held responsible for kids getting clumped for using their left hand for writing. Thankfully we are a bit more enlightened these days (I hope) !!
Just to be clear, it wouldn't have been for stuff that requires both hands, it would have been for really important stuff like handwriting and eating with a knife and fork... yeah it's still horrible but it's not like they weren't allowed to use their left hands at all. Probably the least awful reason they got beaten too. :(
@@Sofasurfa it does make sense for handwriting because of how the hand moves across the page left to right but they didn't need to be such swines about it. More flies with vast piles of rotting meat and all that... wait, I may have that saying wrong. Being nice to people gets better results would be another way to put it.
Thank you 🙏🏼 for incredible video I live Northern California retired disabled garage man have always dreamed of going to East Anglia I watch a lot of RU-vid your awesome my wife is from Scotland 🏴 thank you 🙏🏼 again for your hard work I’m hooded on your channel 😊🙏🏼🇺🇸🏴
I've driven Citroen's for many many years. There are elements that show that they are designed to be driven on the right and 'converted' for the UK market. As an example, centuries ago cars were unlocked by the key being turned in an actual lock in the door (none of this modern 'remote' magic). The locks would be in both front doors but Citroen decided that to save money they would only put the door lock on the drivers door. Of course, here in the UK, that meant the only door lock was on the passenger side.
There was a similar issue with some British cars exported to countries that drive on the right and so the door with the lock being on the wrong side there.
I live in Monaco, but I fairly frequently drive to the UK. As soon as I get off the ferry, I automatically, without even realising I'm doing it, switch to the other side of the road. Driving in the UK, is easier than over here.
From the many dash cam channels I subscribe to around the world I don't think it makes a lot of difference what side people drive on. There are angry, bad, impatient, thoughtless, blind, dangerous and unthinking drivers all over the globe. Interesting video.
Canada drives on the right primarily because until the 1970's, nearly all cars sold in Canada were manufactured by the "Big Three" North American automakers (GM, Ford & Chrysler). Considering that the Canadian car market is roughly only a tenth the size of the American market, it made no sense to make cars with the steering wheel on the right just for Canadians. Also, our highway systems are interconnected.
@Rocket 1377 yep you're right and here in South Africa we're a very big country not an island nation. Left side driving more peactical for reasons given
I have no source, but this is the story that I was told. The fact that most people are right-handed did indeed result in the first traffic being on the left. However, as the amount of traffic increased, pedestrians were forced to the right. This is because when you are walking, you want to see oncoming horses and carts rather than having them come up on you from behind. And this resulted in a class difference between people who habitually chose left or right. In France, this was important because of the revolution. During this period, class markers became very important. Generally, people prefer their language, clothes and customs to suggest that they were as high on the social scale as possible. The revolution changed that overnight. Suddenly people started to do the opposite. And suddently preferring the right hand side of the road was part of that. By Napoleon's time, France's army was officially the people's army do they did the same. And the countries that he conquered had to do the same because tthey literally had to get out of the army's way.
One historical reason for us Brits sticking to the left was all down to the Knights of Old, King Arthur and the Round Table and all that. Back then, most folks walking, on horseback or in carts, would simply stick to whichever side of the road they happened to be on when they passed each other and that wasn't a problem. However, for armed men such as knights and armed militias, things were different and this gave rise to a number of today's customs. Because most people used swords with their right hand, we ended up on the left, as you referred to people doing in narrow alleyways. But, when two knights or other armed 'men' on horseback approached each other from opposite directions, they would always pass on the left so their sword hand was free to engage someone approaching from in front. In the case of knights in armour two things would happen. Firstly, the knights would lift the visors of their helmets with their right hand (as the left was holding the reins so that their right hand was free to use the sword if need be) so they could recognise each other. This courtesy of raising the right hand to the side of the head to raise the visor, eventually became the salute practiced by all military units around the world, even those who now drive on the right. Secondly, they would hold out their right, sword, hand to the right hand side, palm open to show that they were unarmed and were not about to draw their sword. This eventually became the handshake. None of this would be feasible if the knights were passing left side to left side. Don't ask me how European knights of old managed...
I have no authoritative source, but my understanding of why France drove on the right (much of Europe before Napoleon drove on the left, because you mount a horse on its left side as you mentioned) was because of the difference in the way carts are driven. In Britain, for instance, carts were driven from a seat on the cart. The best place to sit when driving a horse and cart is on the right-hand side of the cart - because if you use a whip, and you are right handed, you sit to the right of the cart so that you don't get the whip tangled up in the cart itself. When you meet oncoming carts, you want them to pass you on your right, so that you can more easily see what you are doing. In France, they tended to lead the horse, rather than ride in the cart. Naturally, you want to hold the horse with your right hand. In this situation you want oncoming carts to pass you on your left - so that you can more easily avoid hitting them. When Napoleon defeated countries, he decreed that they ride on the right like they did in France.
Fun fact: Several years ago, right-hand drive Jeeps became a lot cheaper for a while because the US post office ordered a batch of right-hand drive vehicles. The reason: When stopping at the road side, the driver gets out on the pavement side of the vehicle. Many US post office vehicles are RHD for this reason.
I'd heard the story about Napoleon many years ago, and it makes sense. All the countries in Europe that were conquered by Napoleon, drive on the right. Those that were not conquered, drove on the left, but some have changed, for ease of passage between neighbours. Canada changed for that reason. The keep left to defend yourself was of course a custom long before cars were created. When walking, people kept left, on horseback they kept left, (as they did when jousting), so a horse and cart or carriage kept left. When cars were invented, they of coourse had to keep to the same side as the existing traffic. South America was invaded by Spain and Portugal, so having been conquered by Napoleon, kept right. Japan keeps left. No idea why China keeps right. The US initially kept left. The first Model T Fords were right hand drive. If you can find old western films where they featured the first cars, they were right hand drive. (Very sad I remember this detail, instead of the actual story.) Earlier films with stagecoaches were rigth hand drive, and kept left.
On the related subject of walking, I found this item, originally published in The Times of June 9, 1922 of interest: "Some local authorities appear to be coquetting with the idea of changing the rule of the footpath. Some have already decreed that pedestrians shall keep to the left instead of following the traditional practice of keeping to the right. Safety is the object sought, but whatever the merits of the change it is obvious that uniformity is desirable. As things are, the Public is faced with being asked to walk on different sides of the footpath, not only in different towns, but even in different areas of London, according as the municipal authorities are, or are not fired with the zeal of reform. Though one borough, Holborn, for example, may elect to make the change, there is no reason why its neighbours should not be content to maintain the old rule, and in that case the pedestrian will have to change his side as he crosses the boundary. Confusion is certain to result. Keeping to one side, whichever it may be, should be a habit bred by use, but in such circumstances there will be no chance for use to breed it. The cynic may reply that use has not done very much so far, and that a change of rule is likely to make little difference in practice, since a large proportion of pedestrians are ignorant, or careless, of the existence of any rule and meander over the footpath at their own sweet will, not only incommoding those who desire to use it for its proper purpose of locomotion, but also putting the community to the expense of widening pavements which would accommodate the traffic were they used in a more orderly manner. Why, we may ask, are children not taught that there is a rule of the footpath which they ought to observe? They learn many things less useful." Subscribers to The Times may access this story in The Times Archive.
There are lots on contradictory stories about why countries drive on whichever side. it's worth remembering that it was generally ok to decide which side to pass someone coming the other way as you see fit if you are only travelling in a horse drawn cart. It's only an issue of recent times and evolved city by city, region by region. There are many countries that drive on the left. About 1/3 of the world's population drive on the left including biggies like India and Indonesia. Many are ex-British colonies. Indonesia is an ex-Dutch colony but got its independence before the Netherlands changed from left to right!
Just a thought, I've had a lot of pub conversations about this - most people are right handed and right eye dominant, so your 'main' eye is in the middle of the road and your main hand is on the steering wheel when you operate the stick shift. I'm left eye dominant but right-handed BTW but I'm weird 🤣🤪
One observation, as you know.. most people are right-handed, and most of the cars here are manual ok So, let's say, just as you are changing gear or turning the radio on or anything, you are doing it with your left hand, leaving for those moments your dominant right hand controlling/steering the car you know..the important bit! Say if someone opened their car door in front of you just as you were changing gear, you might need to react quickly by swerving to avoid so which hand would you rather be in charge at this moment? Your welcome 😊
I think it’s the same reason why we still use miles instead of kilometres. When we joined the EU it was decided it would be too expensive to change all the road signs so we just stuck with miles.
The Irish did it by simply not erecting new imperial signs for a long time - when I was in Ireland in 2000 all the Imperial signs were clearly OLD AND RUSTY, while newer signs used km - then replacing them on a set "K Day", with the notation "km/h" on all the speed limits so they could not be mistaken for mph. There was a case in Britain for simply retaining Imperial across the board, but then, why decimalize the currency (1971)? or convert weather forecasts to °C (1962)? or join the EEC (1973) even, when we already had the EFTA & Commonwealth trade preferences?
Let's face it, there are enough idiots around to ensure that if we ever did change signs to km, they would soon either be torn down or vandalised to put miles back.
There's a RU-vid clip somewhere documenting Sweden's left to right driving changeover. One night at midnight all traffic was stopped, then set off again on the opposite side. Brilliant!
As well as the list of drivers on the left below; Thailands 70 million drive on the left, and pause for thought; add America and Canadian population together and you have over a billion more in India alone. India drive on the left.
In France, they drive their trains on the left, and that has become the standard for high-speed rail throughout Europe, and China. In Britain, we drive our boats on the right.
Many countries drive on the left. Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and many other Asian countries. So, just on World Population, nearly 50% of the people drive on the left.
There are 64 nations which drive on the left in 2023. Most of the countries in which I've lived/worked/studied do so: Kenya, UK, HK, India, Australia, S Africa. In fact, 40 percent of the world's population live in countries which drive on the left.
I was in the British Army 1977-86 BOAR was a big thing then, So driving on either side was a thing, I never had a problem driving in Germany(European other lands)But returning to Britain off a middle of the night ferry always threw me I did manage about 3 miles in the early hours of a winters night, 🤣
Loving the deep dives, utterly fascinating. I've heard a lot about the history of Left/Right driving, but still you manage to find new gems. On the subject of diving.. Have you considered an A&N series whereby you learn new skills or have new experiences a la Blue Peter? I think an "Alana tours a Kentish brewery and is taught how to make ale", or "Alana learns scuba in the waters off the British coast", or "Alana makes cheese at a traditional creamery" etc. might be quite the draw for fans new and old.
I can't be sure of Napoleon Bonaparte, but Henry Ford was a documented left hander which is why Americans drive on the wrong side of the road. Before automobiles were common there was no rule in America governing which side of the road people should drive on, when Henry Ford's cheaper cars were everywhere, because he had put the wheel on the left, it made sense (sort of) to make everyone drive on the right-hand side of the road. Having the steering wheel on the left of the car is also the reason most Americans drive automatics. Even though early automatics were heavier, less efficient, and more expensive to make, they had a better safety record, because there are considerably more right-handed people than left-handed. Statistics have shown that the majority of people driving stick-shift in America are left-handed, while in the UK the majority of automatics are driven by left-handed drivers. These statistics are a few years old because the influx of fully electric cars are sqewing the up to date statistics.
In addition to getting on a horse being easier on the left for right handed people, it’s even more so if you are wearing a sword, which hangs down your left leg for a right handed person. The only way to mount the horse is to put your left leg in the stirrup and swing your right leg over, and ooh, your facing forward and on the left side of the road. It’s why castles have stairs up towers going round the the right, so attackers going up had the right arm restricted by the central column, whereas defenders facing down had plenty of room for defending with their right.
The apocryphal story I heard as a child was that it is all due to the relative importance of cavalry and infantry in UK and continental Europe. In the UK, infantry was predominant (shield wall at battles of Hastings and Stanford bridge in 1066; archers and heavy infantry at Agincourt 1415 etc). In the UK, kings and commoners fought on foot. So right handed people in the UK pass to the left so your weapon points toward the approaching stranger. In continental Europe, cavalry predominated, especially amongst the nobility where fighting on horseback was a status symbol. The cavalry carried shields, which often were decorated with coats of arms to identify the bearer at a distance. Shields were carried in the left hand for a cavalryman. So you approach a stranger to your right so your shield points toward the approaching stranger for (i) identification and (ii) defence. So in continental Europe they pass to the right. Basically, in the UK the decision-makers were infantry whereas in Europe the decision-makers were cavalry.
Many countries which continue to drive on the left are islands (UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia etc) or have large coastlines (India, South Africa) therefore have few or none road links with right sided driving countries. As you say, Sweden switched to driving on the right in 1967 as both their neighbours, Finland and Norway, drove on the right. Look up the confusing pictures of the changeover day (Högertrafikomläggningen) - some are quite funny.
I looked at the same question years ago Alanna. I found that some scientific research had found that the majority of people would always subconsciously move to the left to avoid something coming towards them. Presumably, better to go into a ditch at 30mph, than a 60mph combined head on collision ? It probably all dates way back to medieval times too, when castles and other defences were built with access routes favouring those defending from above. People were predominantly right handed back then. If I remember correctly, the left hand was known as sinister in Latin and heraldry, meaning left handed people were mistrusted. This also meant chess paths and stairs tended to be built spiralling clockwise going up, as it would leave right handed attacker's at a disadvantage when climbing and using weapons.
Not a guess: Rules of Chivalry. You carry your shield on the left, so 2 knights passing offer mutual defence. Was practice all over Christendom since about 500 AD. Also means reading road signs it brings your eyeline back to the road.
I moved to Europe years ago. So long as the car is designed to conform with the road lay-outs, there's really no difference. I also have a right hand drive Land Rover, which I only use off-road on single track roads, where there is no right or left, so no problem.
Another sweet video, Alanna, thank you. When I was a kid, I thought that all Eglish and Japanese were Left handed, and that's why they drove on the left. I thought that was cool, 'cause I'm left handed. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
People are mostly right handed, & so also mount horses on the left. Carriage drivers sat on the right to clear the whip hand free, & to face oncoming traffic. It was Henry Ford, building cars on an assembly line , made them left hand drive, which hence spread with his cars around the world.
You are adding 'becoming a British historian' to your talents. I feel quite certain that British Commonwealth countries, including Canada of course, drove, and some still do, on the left. I have a great interest in WWII and the Nazis. I have read many books on Hitler and the Austrian Anschluss and have never read about Hitler changing the other half of Austrian roads to drive on the right. I had to find out and checked photos of Austrian roads in 1920 and they show Austria, roads of driving on left. After the Anschluss they drive on the right. Thank you for pointing that out, it something else I have learnt.
I as a German say: driving on the left is correct. In Germany it is like in air or waterway traffic. Traffic coming from the right has the rightaway. It does not make sense being on the left of the vessel to steer a vehicle if the traffic from the right has priority.
Some of the decisions on what side of the road countries drive on come from the railways. Sweden's trains still pass right side to right side. Japan's trains are also the same as they looked to Britain to help them build their railways so Britain obviously had the trains "drive" on the left as they did.
I have a Britannica Book of the Year for 1967. It has photos of the traffic in Sweden switching sides at the appointed hour on 3 September 1967. Wikipedia has one photo of the same event in an article named “Dagen H”.
I wonder if there's a link between driving on the left and jousting. Most knights were (I imagine) forced to hold their lances in their LEFT hand with their sheilds on the right, therefore they would pass each other with their opponent on their right. This is similar to driving on the left of the road. Perhaps it's just a co-incidence? The positioning of the steering wheel (relative to the car) however, helps with overtaking cars in front. In order to see if the road is clear ahead of the other car, one only has to pull out a safer, smaller amount than if the sterring wheel was in the middle or the other side of the car.
Never mind driving, watch the tour de France. By and large despite virtually all of them come from countries that drive on the right, yet that peloton will more than likely be on the left if at all possible, winds permitting. It's a natural thing, and I swear that it's more comfortable for a right to switch over than vice-versa. I might be biased, but no more than you are of course ;~)
The fact that the UK is a collection of islands means that we do not have a land border with a country that drives on the right. So, there is not much pressure to switch sides.
It will be interesting to see what happens when/if self-driving, flying cars become the norm. We already have some indication of the necessity of driving from the right seat with automatic gearshifting replacing manual (left-handed) gearshifting; when it doesn't matter where the driver sits because the car is driving itself and visibility is not an issue, all the usual physical limitations become moot and the question of left/right will boil down to personal preference and arbitrary "flow of traffic" considerations (just like walking). In the future there will still be people who cling to the past, arguing that "British is best!" when in reality it's totally irrelevant. You can take the person out of the past, but you can't take the past out of the person.
the real test of the Napoleon story would be to identify which year each country switched (assuming that they started on the correct side - the UK side - the left) - if most of them did it around 1799-1815 the you need look no further for an explanation...
There are quite a few videos from the start of the 1900s on RU-vid of places like Toronto and Vancouver where you can see vehicles being driven on the left. Newfoundland didn't change until 1947 which is within living memory of a lot of people.
