Yes. It goes back to the days of horse and sword and the same reason we shake hands with our right. Lefthand side is a hold holdover from the days when horse travel was the norm. They would travel on the left so that when you passed a stranger you passed with your weapon hand in case you need to defend oneself. Most people being right handed by large margin. Brits had paved roads long before the auto and just kept the old rule.
In the USA the horse and sword was never really a thing and our roads weren't designed and paved much prior to the auto. So when we devised our road rules we switched it since irt makes more sense to have the left hand on the wheel and right hand free for shifting in the days of manuals. We switched the sides early on but it wasn't always the rule. Also in the US not having the history of horses and swords. The US travel culture grew up with horses and pistols. So even before the advent of autos, it was common to pass each others left because it's easier to draw and point a pistol with your right and point cross chested to your left instead winged-out to your right.
Why the Brits continued to drive on the opposite side though. Most of the world drives on the right because it makes more sense from a driving stand point.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 3, 2017 7:10 AM MDT
What an extremely thoughtful, helpful, useful and informative reply Glis! Thank you for giving so much time to it m'dear! I really appreciate it and I'm sure others do too! Happy Monday to you! :):):)
Hang on, how does it make more sense from a driving standpoint. This topic doesn't come up much. Is it something to do with gear sticks, something mechanical? It's inconvenient when we drive on the Continent, for sure. But what else.
Yep gear sticks. It makes more sense to have the stronger hand on the shifter. Even though Americans tend to favor automatics these days. There is a case that the left is better for older people with deteriorating vision since most people are right eye dominate though.
But isn't it the same whether you drive on the righthand side or lefthand side in a country? Everyone else does too, right? Thank you for your reply JV and Happy Monday to thee! :)
Benedict Arnold 