Monday, August 30, 2010

Lesson 83: The Left Side of the Road


Today, while sitting at a coffee shop with a coworker and one of the teens we work with, I learned about why some countries drive on the left side of the road. The teen, a 17-year old male, said that it had to do something with cutting people's heads off. I didn't believe him, so of course I Googled it. This is what I learned:

In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him.

Turns out he wasn't TOO far off. But then I noticed this map of which side of the road people drive on around the world:


Apparently, a lot of these countries that now drive on the right side used to drive on the left side as well for the same reasons mentioned above or because they were colonized by a country that drove on the left. (I'm looking at you, Great Britain!) But why have they maintained that custom? What if the drivers in the orange countries have a sword hidden somewhere? Good thing I have eyes everywhere.

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