France drives the right way - on the right?
 

I had thought I would be driving on the wrong side of the road there. May be a stupid question, but do they drive on the right side of the road?

they actually drive on both sides of the road - but right is the right side to drive on.

If you mean the right-HAND side of the road, yes.

Those Fodorites in the UK (and other former British colonies) would likely take you to task for saying the "right/wrong" side of the road :-), but YES in France one drives on the right as is the case in the US.

Best, Dave

What a relief! All this time, I was preparing myself for driving on the left. Yes Underhill, right as the same as the US

That isn't European, it's a British thing. I don't think they do that anywhere except in the UK, current/former British colonies or places they occupied, etc., and Japan.

In Sweden they drove on the left handside until mid 1960s.

And UK should get with it and drive on the right (the right) side of the road!

I always thought the wrong side of the road was the direction traffic was coming at you :) Unless you are in Ireland

Apparently the American colonies used to drive on the left as well;

Apparently the difference is between whether soldies were on foot or on horseback (explained to me by a guide at Winchester Cathedral)

If you are on foot, you will pass an oncoming person keeping them to your left, so you can strike at them with your sword over the top of your shield.

If you are on horseback, you keep you opponent to your right.

Or perhaps it's the other way round...

I wonder why the colonies and then everyone else that counts in the motoring world (China, India, Pakistan, OZ obviously don't) changed to the right after the Brits had us initially going on the left?

Thailand drives on the left.

I'll agree with the world going to RH drive, if everyone else agrees to go metric :) Methinks it ain't going to happen.

Thailand drives on the left.

so does Nepal. Argentina did i believe before it, like Sweden changed. The big problem in Sweden was changing doors on trams and buses i believe as well as a feared spike in accidents. But the Swedes finally 'got it right'

They always drive on the right when they are crossing rickety-rackety bridges.
That way, they puzzle trolls

France is very understanding with British cars in the region near the Eurotunnel, because it even provides autoroute toll booths on the 'wrong' side for those who need them. But within 50 kilometers, you have to work out a system with your passenger (if you are lucky enough to have one), because this facility quickly disappears.

Indonesia drive on the left.

I suspect it's news to General Motors that China doesn't count, and simply gobsmacking- since the major local car maker is in the process of overtaking GM on every measure you can think of - that Japan doesn't.

But not nearly as astonishing as it'll be to the Chinese that they:
- are an ex-British colony, and
- drive on the left.

More likely that the US will switch to the left.

Most people being right handed, it would facilitate drive by shootings to a huge degree :)

Hong Kong, China i believe drives on the left.

No China wasn't an official British colony but waz run by British - ever heard of the Opium Wars, where Brits forced Chinese to buy their opium?

Why do some countries drive on the right
and others on the left ?


If you are planning to visit the UK and happen to come from one of the many countries that drive on the wrong side of the road, the following advice, direct from the Ministry of Transport, is for you:

“Visitors are informed that in the United Kingdom traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road. In the interests of safety, you are advised to practise this in your country of origin for a week or two before driving in the UK.”


History and origin
List of left-driving countries
List of right-driving countries
Population distribution
Some anecdotes…
Location of the steering wheel

Why do some countries drive on the right and others on the left ?In Europe, the remaining left-driving countries switched one by one to ... Territories, however, which bordered other left-driving countries were exempted. ...
users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm

web site for above post i made

interesting why U.S. and some other countries 'teamsters' switched us to the right. they sat in the front of the wagon and used their right hand to control the horses and expected folks to pass them on the left.

anywhere interesting site on this topic.

We never ran China, and the bit that drives on the left accounts for less than one-hundredth of one percent of the country's surface area. 100% of China's human rights, democracy, uncensored access to international media, freedom of speech and religion, rule of law and governmental accountability, of course, but how important is any of that compared to the side of the road they drive on?

We DID run their Customs for a while. But it'd be even greater news to most Americans (can't you remember the "who lost China?" debate in the late 40's?) that Britain EVER had more influence in the other 99.99% than Washington.

Except of course in Kashgar, where the former British consulate was the beacon of light and hope during the great anarchies of the early 20th century.

Shanghai wasn't virtually a British colony at least economically - no they did not want the dirty work of actually trying to rule that many folk - just took the money.

Cambodia is a pretty scary country for drivers (and passengers!). About half of the cars on the road are imported (or stolen?) from Thailand. So half of the cars have the steering wheel on the right and the other half on the left. (Cambodia theoretically drives on the right.)

France drives the wrong way- on the right.

"In the interests of safety, you are advised to practise this in your country of origin for a week or two before driving in the UK."

Does anyone else see this as humorous?

The next time I accidentally turn the wrong way on a one-way street, I'm using this as my defense.

Seriously though, I'm sure they don't intend for you to practice on public streets, but if not on public streets, then where? And how could practicing on empty or one-way streets (or parking lots?) be good practice for sitting on the right hand side of the vehicle, driving on the left hand side of the road, and maneuvering traffic signals and other moving vehicles?

I read that France are planning to switch driving sides. It will be phased in over a 3 day period.
Day 1 Motorbikes and cycles will switch sides.
Day 2 Cars and Vans
Day 3 Lorries and Busses.

;-)

Muck

being from Oz means that we drive on the right side... that is the lefthand side of the road....as does the majority of humans on this planet (China India and all of Asia drive on the LEFT HAND side of the road)
BUT

being the itinerant traveller like most Aussies..we get around however we can even if its on the wrong side..that is the right hand side of the road!

got that? :)

Since I'm right-handed, I can see the appeal of being able to shift gears with the right hand versus the left. If I were a minority left-hander, I might feel differently. Do they have more lefties in England, Australia, and Japan?

UK wasn't the only country in China in the late 19th C. In Chinese History, they refer to the war with 8 countries.

And when you go to Shanghai, one of the main commercial areas today in central city, just west of the Bund, was the French-occupation area.

Russia and Japan were the two countries that had actually occupied large Chinese territories in NE China. What the German, French and British occupied paled in comparison.

Most will consider Hong Kong a real British colony.

And Portugal had Macau as part of its territory for about 450 years.

Anyways, Hong Kong and Macau still drive on the left.

Waring surmises that "America will switch to the left"?! Heck, I'd just be happy if we could get a little closer to the middle again...LOL! And speaking of politics, if you tell George that the French like the right side of the road too, he MIGHT just decide to switch us over after all. Maybe it has to do with both governments being born out of revolution...

In Paris it seems to me that the French drive where ever they can, right, left, middle, you name it. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they drive all over the place.

My father once told me a joke about New York Cab drivers. A New York cabbie, a Baptist minister, and a Catholic priest all arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time. The two clergymen were told to wait; the cabbie was given instant admission. When the two clergy protested, St. Peter said to them, "That cabbie has scared more hell out of people than you two ever dreamed of."

Well after a few French cab rides, particularly in Vernon (Giverny) I should be pure in heart and soul for an eternity and the next life as well.

I will say one thing for Parisian drivers. They have the most accurate depth perception of anybody around. I have watched bicycle riders pedal along the street, between the traffic line and the curb, and never get hit even thought the clearance on either side looked to be less than 2 inches.

I also accept the fact that Parisian bike riders are gutsy in the extreme.

Was that the cabbie who died peacefully in his sleep (not even disturbed by his passengers' screams)?

I understand the swedes changed over county by county over a 2 week period. Now I know the country is sparsley populated but it must have lead to interesting junctions

<i>Cambodia theoretically drives on the right</i>

Too true kerouac. In reality, Cambodia drives whereever it pleases... and at whatever speed is most convenient. I love the intersections in cities, almost none of which have lights or stop signs. Crossing seems like more of a process of automotive osmosis. If you're lucky, the moto you're hanging on to the back of sort of magically re-appears at the other side, having missed all the tuk-tuks and Camrys with the wheel in the wrong place.

I think 'Red' Ken has it right - do driving at all in London.

In the US Virgin Islands they drive on the left, also.

Yes they do drive on the right side of the road in France. Our first holiday in France was a driving holiday and coming from a left road drive country I was quite proud of myself on how I managed in Paris until I hit the circle around the Arc de Triomphe!!!! I got into the circle but could not get out. No-one but no-one would allow me out! We were in the lane closest to the Arc so we could not see the names of the roads leading off the circle. Panic set in and my wife suggested that I close my eyes and veer off. After about 5 revolutions I tucked in behind a cyclist and manged to escape. Have avoided this ever since.

I'm ashamed to admit this, but as an &quot;Arc de Triomphe&quot; specialist, I adore whizzing around as fast as possible and cutting everybody off on my left. I even sometimes win battles against taxis, so I must be getting pretty good. I'm afraid to say that I am probably not the only person who enjoys such behavior. It is just too tempting to watch 90% of the cars hesitating in terror.

Sorry - can't keep it in any longer but this really was a somewhat dumb question - still it makes a change from &quot;can I wear jeans?&quot; &quot;will people laugh at me if I wear white sneakers&quot; &quot;should I take travellers checks or change money here&quot; etc etc