"Ron" wrote in message
...
On 31/01/2012 10:22, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:02:25 -0000, David Looser wrote:

The story goes that it was Napoleon who imposed driving on the right (or
more accurately in those pre-motor vehicle days passing oncoming traffic
on the right) onto a continent that up until then had mostly still
followed the old Roman rule of passing on the left.

Hum, I wonder of that has anything to do with which hand one would
have ones sword in? Most people are right handed so being on the
right makes it harder to take a swipe at some one passing.


That's the usual explanation for driving on the left in Roman times. Some
say it was Napoleon who decreed driving on the right, some say it was the
Pope.

Which Pope?

Incidentally, I was at a presentation about Barbados the other day, and
was told that it's not possible to hire a car in Barbados due to the
previous amount of traffic accidents involving hire cars. They drive on
the left, and the majority of tourists are American and can't get used to
driving on that side. I myself prefer to drive down the middle


The problem I have in driving in the US is not driving on the right but the
unfamilaiar roadsigns and rules of the road. The very first time I drove in
the US I had just got off a direct flight from London to San Franscisco and
had to drive from there to a small town in Northern California via some
narrow, twisting mountain roads. To add to the fun I was navigating using a
rather poor map, I'd been awake for 24hrs and the light was fading fast. I
was never more glad to arrive unscathed at my destination!

David.