Ian is absolutely correct. I lived in UK
for over two years, and had "keep left'
totally under control. Then one night
a man went off the road in front of me.
I drove on till the first lane, turned
around and hurried back -- on the right
side of the road -- to help him.
Fortunately there was not other traffic
at that moment, or there'd have been two
accidents.
Countries that drive on the left
· By: Drivers.com staff
· Date: 2008-01-06
Comments (6) Join conversation
If you are planning to travel and perhaps rent a car it's a good idea to check in advance about which side of the road vehicles drive on. There are more than 50 around the world that drive on the left, and in some countries it's very common, and perhaps scary, when a mix of left drive (driving on the right) and right drive (driving on the left) vehicles share the road.
Left driving countries
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bophuthatswana
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Cayman Islands
Channel Islands
Ciskei
Cyprus
Dominica
Falkland Islands
Fiji
Grenada
Guyana
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Lesotho
Macau
Malawi
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Montserrat
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
New Zealand
Pakistan
Papua
New Guinea
St. Vincent and Grenadines
Seychelles
Sikkim
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St Kitts and Nevis
St. Helena
St. Lucia
Surinam
Swaziland
Tanzania
Thailand
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Uganda
United Kingdom
US Virgin Islands
Venda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
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Comments
Arjyle, on Saturday, 18. April 2009 at 02:46 PM
Admin, on Thursday, 19. March 2009 at 07:58 PM
Thailand is one of the few South East Asia countries never to have been taken over by a colonial power. I guess the British influence in the area must have been responsible for the left side driving rules.
Phil, on Thursday, 19. March 2009 at 01:27 AM
Please enlighten me as to when Thailand was ever a British Colony?
Gary, on Thursday, 06. November 2008 at 04:17 PM
You don't get it Tim. It's not that easy to change sides. The main problem is where to look and when (for example when crossing traffic) and your driving habits.
...and about typing the characters - its to prevent spammers!
Tim Palmer, on Wednesday, 05. November 2008 at 08:50 AM
If one cannot adapt to driving on a different side of the road, then, one should not be on the road!
Furthermore, why should I have to read characters before submitting this message.
IAN ANDREWS, on Friday, 01. February 2008 at 09:46 PM
Essentially, the remaining left hand drive countries are the former British Empire plus Japan .
There are lots of accidents & deaths involving drivers with perfect driving records - until they tried driving on the opposite side of the road to what they were used to . I have seen some of these accidents .
In my opinion, the problem isn't with remembering to "keep left" or "keep right" because that's only 1 rule to remember. It's the mistakes made under pressure that are the problem - when the habits of a lifetime kick in before the concsious mind intervenes . e.g. swerving the wrong way when cut off, looking the wrong way at an intersection , having attention diverted momentarily when fumbling to find one of the driver's controls or switches.
There should be some compulsory driver training required , possibly including some online simulation, as part of the requirement for an International Driving Permit.
