Talk:Left- and right-hand traffic

Modern decision of Japan and UK was done to favour local car makers?

I'm fairly certain that Rolls Royce and Honda etc simply put the steering wheel on the opposite side to Ford for technical reasons - and the govts of those 2 countries simply wanted to assist their local car manufacturers when later making the decision - which forced Ford of The US to change the steering wheel for imports simply because it was foreign. Yes of course Ford is foreign everywhere outside The US, but other countries either didn't have carmakers or their local makers put the steering wheels on the same side as Ford. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.99.210.174 (talk) 18:50, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

The German and French industries were well-established before Ford and I'm 100% certain that the UK had motor manufacturers – Daimler and Lanchester to name but two – not only before the Ford Motor Company was founded but also from roughly the same time as Henry built his first quadricycle. Ford's Trafford Park factory in Manchester Uk didn’t open until 1911. Mr Larrington (talk) 19:51, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

I have wondered why not left-hand traffic was introduced in the northern and central part of West Germany after World War II, although those parts of Germany became the British occupation zone. When the U.K. occupied Germany, it would have introduced left-hand traffic there, according to British model. Left-hand traffic in British-occupied Germany would most likely have stopped the Swedish plans to switch to right-hand traffic in Sweden, which then used LHT although most Swedish vehicles had the driver seat to the left rather than the right. 212.100.101.104 (talk) 17:53, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

There were several UK manufacturers before 1900, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_the_United_Kingdom#1896_to_1900. That web page describes much activity in 1895 and 1896 and refers to the "claim for the first all-British motor car" being contested. Therefore the choice of the side of the steering wheel would not be due to a desire to be different from the USA. Reasons for not changing to RHT in more recent times are discussed in the web page to which this is the Talk page. JRGp (talk) 18:55, 7 January 2023 (UTC)

Most American cars seem to have been right-hand driven in the early 1900s. Perhaps at that time it was preferred to have the driver's seat on the curbside (which is the right-hand side in right-hand traffic) rather than on the side towards the oncoming traffic. But I wonder why the USA didn't switch to left-hand traffic when most cars were right-hand driven. If the USA is a former British colony, it should have left-hand traffic just as Britain - but it seems that the Americans tended (before they had cars) to drive wagons, drawn by more than two horses, from the left horse and therefore expected oncoming wagons to approach on the left, in order to be able to be attentive to oncoming traffic. But then why didn't the Americans start driving on the left when they produced cars with the driver's seat on the right-hand side of the vehicle? 212.100.101.104 (talk) 20:58, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

Croatia during Austro-Hungarian rule

I inserted a statement in the notes, to clarify that some regions of Croatia drove on the left, while other drove on the right during the time of Austro-Hungarian rule. This is based on the Karl Baedeker publication "Austria, including Hungary, Transylvania, Dalmatia and Bosnia", 9th ed. 1900, at pp xiii-xiv: "In Styria, Upper and Lower Austria, Salzburg, Carniola, Croatia, and Hungary we keep to the left, and pass to the right in overtaking; in Carinthia, Tyrol, and the Austrian Littoral (Adriatic coast: Trieste, Gorizia and Gradisca, Istria and Dalmatia) we keep to the right and overtake to the left. Troops on the march always keep to the right side of the road, so in whatever part of the Empire you meet them, keep to the left."

Unfortunately I do not currently have any information on when the left hand driving regions switched to the right, but it is probably after the end of World War I.

== clarification: All of Austria Hungary adopted driving on the left from 1915 (source Kincaid). The change to drive on the right was probably 1926 as that is the year given elsewhere for former Yugoslavia Noel Ellis 01:46, 28 January 2022 (UTC) Noel Ellis — Preceding unsigned comment added by Noel Ellis (talk • contribs)

Russia

The colour of Russia should be changed. This is because Sakhalin was a Japanese territory and then it became a part of Russia.103.246.39.1 (talk) 07:36, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

South parth of Sakhalin (and only this) was a Japanese territory only from 1905 to 1945 (40 years), when Japan captured after Russo-Japanese War. Before 1905, Sakhalin was Russian, see, f.e., Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875). So all time except 40 years Sakhalin was a Russian territory and therefore has RHT. Like Moscow, SPb and other parts of my country, Sakhalin has the same traffic (if it has any roads). P.S. If you are from Japan, you should take the same logic, cause Okinava has RHT when it was american. Eh? --Brateevsky ^{(talk to me)} 13:00, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

Ah!! So Russia took back what was it's own territory. It wasn't Japanese to begin with. And no, I am not Japanese or American, hehe. Just because I brought up the topic doesn't mean that I'm from these countries. Speaking of America. The colour of America should be changed too. Parts of it were under the British. And the other parts were French, Dutch and Spanish. Also, the US virgin islands are Left hand drive.

103.246.39.1 (talk) 05:12, 14 August 2021 (UTC)

Not unless "all time" began in 1845, when Japan and Russia both formally claimed the island for the first time at the same time. Yappy2bhere (talk) 21:21, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

Hong Kong and Macau

Will Hong Kong and Macau switched to RHT like mainland China when the two are fully merged in China in 2047? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:842:C101:54E0:F034:DD47:7EEF:738 (talk) 05:10, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

Walking on the left or right side

In my country, Denmark, if you are walking on a street with no sidewalk (typically, outside towns) you are required by law to walk on the left side of the street, so you will meet oncoming traffic face-on.

I've heard that India has the opposite rule: Pedestrians should walk on the same side of the street as driving cars.

Is there any information about similar rules in other countries?Oz1cz (talk) 16:31, 6 February 2022 (UTC)

The British highway code states: "If there is no pavement, keep to the right-hand side of the road so that you can see oncoming traffic." Obviously, traffic drives on the left in the UK so in principle this is equivalent to to Danish rule. If somebody would like to do the research, this subject would be a welcome addition to the article. Tammbeck^talk 16:44, 6 February 2022 (UTC)