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    Which side of the road does every country drive on? [OC]
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    Which side of the road does every country drive on? [OC]

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    1. StreetConsequence310 on

      I’m currently in Kenya, which drives on the left, but I’m originally from Germany where we drive on the right. The switch always throws me off for the first few days. Got me wondering what the full global picture looks like.

      Turns out only about 54 out of 195 countries drive on the left, mostly former British colonies plus a few others like Japan and Thailand.

      Sources: World Bank, CIA World Factbook, UN, Natural Earth (map geometry)

      Tools: Python (matplotlib, geopandas)

      Did I get any of these wrong? Would love corrections if so, some of the smaller countries were tricky to verify.

    5. goldenkicksbook on

      The reason that the UK and its colonies drive on the left can be traced back to the Romans, who marched on the left to keep their sword hands in the centre of the road. This was also the case across all the former Roman colonies until Napoleon, who switched to the right. As Napoleon never conquered Britain, the British remained on the left.

    7. JPBillingsgate on

      I have driven on the left in several different countries, so far without incident.

      That said, the most odd is the U.S. Virgin Islands, where you drive on the left but using American cars. That was an especially odd experience.

      But Scottish “B” roads are the ones that have been the most intimidating.

    9. Rameez_Raja on

      Burma/Myanmar used to drive on the left too until one day (not joking at all) their dictator had a dream that driving on the left would make the people communist or whatever, so he consulted a wizard who picked an auspicious day to have the entire country start driving on the right literally overnight.

      Apart from all the immediate issues that this change created, Burma is poor af and most of its vehicles are used imports from Japan, India, and Thailand meaning they’re all RWD cars… everyone is driving with the steering wheel on the wrong side. This creates interesting scenarios like if you’re on public bus, you have to alright _into_ the traffic lane.

    10. nesquikchocolate on

      OP I think you might be missing it, but in South Africa we don’t drive on the left. We drive on what’s left…

    12. drdistressedflamingo on

      Lol. The do drive in Taiwan. It’s on the right. And on the left in Hong Kong

    17. HurricaneLink on

      I wonder with Guyana growing so much, they might switch to right-hand driving, to better connect with the regional economy.

    19. Zealousideal-Yam3169 on

      Changing gear with left hand while steering with the right feels more in control.

    21. Izawwlgood on

      Driving in New Zealand the worst was “time to turn on my turn signal ah shit the wipers are going again”

    22. richardxday on

      Just goes to show that most of the world can be wrong about something /s

      I believe the reason the UK drive on the left, why we shake hands with our right hand and why sinister means left (including left-handed people) all come down to travellers meeting on a road.

    24. ArmandoDelPecho on

      I’ve been to Benin a decade ago. I can assure you they drive on both sides of the road. Same for roundabouts, you can go on either side!