British Billy drives on the left

  • Published
  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  I have little use for cars, although they can be handy to hide beneath in inclement weather. I prefer to travel under my own paw power. However, there seem to be lots more cars around than cats, and I can see it makes sense to have rules about which side of the road you drive on.

Seven hundred or so years ago, when the roads in the U.S. and Britain were a lot emptier than they are today, people kept to the left for the simple reason that you never knew who you'd meet on the road. You wanted to make sure that a stranger passed on the right so you could go for your sword in case he proved unfriendly. It was tough if you were naturally left handed because, back in those days, they didn't tolerate such deviance. As you may already know, the Latin for 'left' is 'sinister'. I'm a right-paw myself.

This custom was given official sanction in 1300 A.D., when Pope Boniface VIII invented the modern science of traffic control by declaring that pilgrims headed to Rome should keep left.

Apparently, this custom continued until the late 18th century, when teamsters in the United States and France began using big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. There was no driver's seat but instead the driver sat on the left rear horse and kept his right arm free to whip the team. In this situation, with the driver sitting on the left, you wanted everybody else to pass you on your left so you could look down and make sure your wheels kept clear of the of the other wagon's wheels. Hence, the wagons started keeping to the right. The USA was also anxious to cast off any remaining links with its British colonial past. The first known keep-right law in the U.S. was enacted in Pennsylvania in 1792, and in the ensuing years, many states and Canadian provinces followed suit.

In France, the keep-right custom was established in much the same way, and eventually Napoleon enforced the keep-right rule in all countries occupied by his armies. The custom endured even after the Napoleonic Empire was no more.

In 'bijou' Britain, however, we didn't need to drive such great big wagons that required the driver to be on horseback. The British wagon drivers could continue to sit on a seat and keep left. Keeping left first entered English law in 1756 with the enactment of an ordinance governing traffic on London Bridge, and ultimately became the rule throughout the British Empire.

The trend among nations over the years has been toward driving on the right, but stubborn little Britain has done its best to stave off global homogenization. We are not alone, however. Many former British colonies continue the practice, as does Japan.

There are some who would like Britain to fall into line with the rest of Europe, but this is not really feasible. It would cost billions of pounds to change everything round.

The last European country to convert to driving on the right was Sweden in 1967. While everyone was getting used to the new system, they paid more attention and took more care, resulting in a reduction of the number of road accident casualties.

On the other hand, from September 2009, Samoa now drives on the left instead of the right. The main reason for this is that they want to use right-hand-drive cars from nearby Japan and New Zealand, which both drive on the left. Good for them, I say. We plucky little islands must stick together.