Driving RHD on LHD roads (and vice versa)

I Drive a RHD everyday living in HK.

From time to time i drive back up to China which is LHD.

Its Chaotic. Going into carparks = trouble. paying road fees = trouble. my apartment in china requires a touchcard to go into a carpark. Going into that carpark = get off touch, run back and drive..

Speaking of shifting with another hand. I cant do it.
I drives a RHD MT in HK without problem, but when i go do tracking in China with LHD cars, i misshift all the time....
 
Isn't shifting with your other hand really weird?

I keep imagening it and it always feels odd.

Nah. After a couple of blocks, it's second nature.
 
Isn't shifting with your other hand really weird?
I can't say exactly as I've never driven a LHD manual. What I know is I much prefer changing gear with my left hand because it means my right hand is still on the steering wheel. The only left-hooker I've driven to this point was an automatic - which meant the first time I came to a stop I put my foot on a clutch pedal that wasn't there. And then, as the engine revs climbed, I did that again and put my hand in the door pocket where I was expecting the gearstick to be...
 
...That one exception? Overtaking on single lane roads - it's much, much harder to see if the road ahead is clear since you're on the kerb side of the road.

I always thought LHD cars (Skylines etc) are supposed to be humongously quick so you could overtake whenever you feel like it. :p
 
My dad currently drives a CHD (correct-hand-drive) in the UK, and he says the only thing that is problematic / annoying is going through parking garages, you have to really lean over. And, while of course, it becomes slightly harder to pass on 1lane roads, the roads in the cotswalds are so fucking tight, and surrounded by trees, that you can't see to pass no matter what side your wheel is on.... then again, my dad doesn't drive much at all. I Believe the car hasn't been out of the garage in a few months :D
 
The garage where i used to work would have the odd LHD car come in... theres nothing funnier than seeing people get in through the wrong door and pretend they meant to.
 
that's what i meant.
 
Why don't every country drive on the right side????????? I have always found this strange. And it would make cars from outside of that country cheaper. Viva la difference I guess.
 
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It's quite an expensive thing to do. And I don't see the automotive industry paying for anything currently :shifty:.
 
My dad currently drives a CHD (correct-hand-drive) in the UK, and he says the only thing that is problematic / annoying is going through parking garages, you have to really lean over.

LHD is correct? Wrong.

Think about it, 70% to 90% (from wikipedia) of people are right handed, and where we drive proper manual cars we need to use one hand to change gear. This should be your left hand, because you need the extra strength of your right hand to control the car. Logic. Other countries never thought about that.

Along with switching to the Euro as currency, going to LHD would be the only thing that would make me move to Australia, where they don't take any shit.
 
LHD is correct? Wrong.

Think about it, 70% to 90% (from wikipedia) of people are right handed, and where we drive proper manual cars we need to use one hand to change gear. This should be your left hand, because you need the extra strength of your right hand to control the car. Logic. Other countries never thought about that.

Along with switching to the Euro as currency, going to LHD would be the only thing that would make me move to Australia, where they don't take any shit.

I think that's a stupid thing to say, neither is correct or right, its a matter of preference.. "Other countries never thought about that" -That's just arrogance.. No-one ever thought or decided whether cars should be RHD or LHD, it just turned out the way it did. And as it is, There are only a few countries with RHD, which sort of says which one is more logical..
 
LHD is correct? Wrong.

Think about it, 70% to 90% (from wikipedia) of people are right handed, and where we drive proper manual cars we need to use one hand to change gear. This should be your left hand, because you need the extra strength of your right hand to control the car. Logic. Other countries never thought about that.

Along with switching to the Euro as currency, going to LHD would be the only thing that would make me move to Australia, where they don't take any shit.

I think that's a stupid thing to say, neither is correct or right, its a matter of preference.. "Other countries never thought about that" -That's just arrogance.. No-one ever thought or decided whether cars should be RHD or LHD, it just turned out the way it did. And as it is, There are only a few countries with RHD, which sort of says which one is more logical..


Heh, pretty good capsule there. In addition, the left hand is also less dextrous in the "right hand is stronger" theory - which means that the task taking MORE dexterity, shifting the transmission, is taken up by the less dextrous hand? Wait, what? :p

Thing is... RHD is "wrong" from the historical viewpoint, IMHO. There are quite a few theories as to how this arose, but here's the one I like the best:

Back in ancient times, men drove carts and rode horses for transportation. Men also had to fear assault and robbery from other men who wanted their goods without paying for them. To this end, men used swords and wore shields to defend themselves from others.

Now, as has already been noted, most of the population is right handed - so they'd leave their right hand free to use the sword and carry the shield on their left. Suspicion of other travellers being a healthy thing and requiring room to draw the sword in case of need, most men would walk on the right side of the road with their shield towards potential danger. When using a cart, the same idea would apply - and sitting on the side of the cart that had a better view while simultaneously keeping your shield-side towards the potential enemy is a natural extension of this.

Therefore, LHD makes more sense than RHD.

Related trivia: Ever wonder why aircraft carriers have their towers and superstructures on the right side of the ship instead of the left? Well, when people started to build carriers, some put the tower on the right, some put the tower on the left. Someone noticed that the ships that had the tower on the right had FAR fewer incidents of aircraft hitting the tower than those that had it on the left. The US Navy did a study back in the 20s and discovered that the vast majority of the population, when placed under stress, will pull, jump, or otherwise evade... to the left! Some believe that this is a Darwinian response bred in to humans - a reflex to turn into one's shield while exposing the weapon hand to free it for action. In any case, that's why carriers have the island on the right - and why so many people turn left for no apparent reason on the street.
 
I think that's a stupid thing to say, neither is correct or right, its a matter of preference.. "Other countries never thought about that" -That's just arrogance.. No-one ever thought or decided whether cars should be RHD or LHD, it just turned out the way it did. And as it is, There are only a few countries with RHD, which sort of says which one is more logical..

I meant it in a joking way, sorry if it came across like that. I have always wondered how we ended up with RHD though. :think:
 
Here I'm on shaky ground, but wasn't the carriage of arms other than a dagger and the bow forbidden the English commoner for a number of centuries post-Roman rule? If so, that would explain it, IMHO. With no shields, you'd want to keep your dagger side towards the oncoming potential threat.

I solve the "problem" of driving on RHD roads (being from a proper LHD country) by renting a motorcycle rather than a car when I come to visit. :D It's irrelevant to a biker, and all you have to do is remember to ride on the left side of the road. :D
 
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LHD is correct? Wrong.

Think about it, 70% to 90% (from wikipedia) of people are right handed, and where we drive proper manual cars we need to use one hand to change gear. This should be your left hand, because you need the extra strength of your right hand to control the car. Logic. Other countries never thought about that.

Along with switching to the Euro as currency, going to LHD would be the only thing that would make me move to Australia, where they don't take any shit.

Ever wonder why the Subaru World Rally Team has LHD cars even though the manufacturer is Japanese and the team is based in the UK?
It's because most people are also right eye dominant, and we want to have the dominant eye closer to the center line of the vehicle for a more accurate frame of reference.
 
going to LHD would be the only thing that would make me move to Australia, where they don't take any shit.
That absolutely, definitely, categorically will not happen.

It was a massive undertaking when Sweden made the switch in 1967 - and all the reasons why it worked there and then are reasons why it would not work now.

(1) Most of the cars in Sweden at the time were left-hookers.
(2) Sweden has always had a far lower population density than the UK.
(3) In 1967 the number of cars on the road was an order of magnitude lower than now.
(4) Sweden is, always has been and always will be a more efficient country than the UK!

For Dagen H, the preparation took three years, and the change took place in one day. For the UK in 2008, it'd take the best part of a decade with EU interference, red tape, excessive paperwork and goold old fashioned blithering incompetence. And when the changeover happened, we'd have a plethora of pensioners descending into senility and moronic chavs who would forget that the change had ever happened. Plus, just about everyone would be marooned in an right-hand-drive car for driving on the right, thus reverting to the problems that Sweden had before Dagen H.

The carnage caused would be indescribably awful.

I can only see one possible advantage... and that's that all the speed cameras would be looking the wrong way. And I'd be willing to bet those would be the first devices converted to driving on the right, ahead of essentials such as road markings and signs.

Apparently it's a common question in a job interview: "If the UK was forced to change to driving on the right, and you were in charge of the whole operation, how would you oversee it?"

My answer: I'd emigrate. And then hit the interviewer with all the many reasons above why the whole operation was doomed to cataclysmic failure.
 
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