Why does traffic flow in reverse in some countries?

Traffic rules have been applied all over the world since the years when horse carriages began to be used. Driver and pedestrian safety Although these rules applied to ensure the order of traffic are the same in almost every country, there is a situation that is a serious detail that catches our eyes; flow direction of traffic.

with you today Why do some countries have left-hand traffic?, we will examine in which countries this situation is experienced, and whether it is us or them that is the opposite. If you are ready; Let’s open the traffic flow direction file together.

The story of the flow of traffic goes back to the 11th century BC.

In horse carriages, which began to be used in 3000 BC Traffic rules were first used in China in the 11th century BC. is found. Although the reason for the gender discrimination is not known exactly; In those years, women were driving on the left, men on the right and cars in the middle of the road.

It is not known how long this sexist traffic and pedestrian rule lasted, but it is a known fact. first modern traffic rules in the UK is found.

They preferred the flow of traffic to the left for better sword use.

United Kingdomis one of the countries where we know that the traffic flows from the left. In fact, according to most sources, traffic starts to flow on the left for the first time in the UK. The reason for this is based on a very basic logic.

It means that the traffic flows from the left; people driving horse carriages facing the wall and driving a safer journey meant. Also, since the vast majority of people can use their right hand more strongly than their left hand; right-handed swords or horse reins were more comfortable to control when traffic was flowing from the left.

The period when the left fell and the right rose in Europe

Although the title above may sound like a political message to you; You are not quite wrong. Until the Napoleonic Era (early 1800s), traffic in almost all of Europe flowed on the left as right-handers had the advantage, but Because Napoleon is left-handed, this situation did not give Napoleon any advantage, but also meant a disadvantage. For this reason, in the 19th century, with the pressure of Napoleon, the flow of traffic in many parts of Europe passed from left to right.

Almost all of the countries with left-hand traffic, even in the Napoleonic Era, During the Era of Adolf Hitler He changed the flow of traffic from left to right with pressure because Hitler also wanted traffic to flow from the right.

Sweden and Ford’s choices are purely economical

• The first day of right-hand traffic in Sweden

Sweden was the last state to pull the flow of traffic from left to right in Europe. Actually, Sweden was very happy with this situation, but Sweden’s market to the whole world Volvo and Saab The steering wheel of the brand cars should have been on the right according to the traffic of Sweden. However, in most states where Sweden exports cars, traffic flowed on the right and the steering wheel had to be on the left. Sweden changed the flow of traffic from left to right in 1967 in order to avoid export problems in the automobile industry.

Henry Ford, on the other hand, lost some patents to another name while producing cars in America. Ford, to avoid paying royalties He found the solution to put the steering wheel on the right.

The flow of traffic in the world

According to the latest published reports; on the world 66% of people drive their vehicles in right-hand traffic While driving, 34% drive on left-hand traffic.

If we refer to this data in terms of the number of states, not population; While traffic flows on the right in 165 countries, 75 countries from the left is flowing. In addition, only 28% of the roads open to vehicular traffic in the world are designed for left-hand traffic.

Countries where traffic flows from the left

• Countries where the traffic flows from the right are shown in red, and countries where the traffic flows from the left are shown in blue.

As we mentioned earlier, traffic flows on the left in 75 countries today. At the head of these countries United Kingdom While most of the remaining states came under the auspices of the United Kingdom in the past.

For states with left-hand traffic, Australia, Indonesia, Turkish Republic of Northern CyprusWe can cite India, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Japan and Thailand as examples.

Is it safer for traffic to flow on the left?

Today, although there is no clear thesis that “traffic is safer to flow from the left or right”, there are also studies conducted on this subject in the past. British civil and traffic engineer in 1969 John Joseph Leeming According to the report published by; In countries with left-hand traffic, the accident rate is lower than in countries where traffic flows from the right.

Leeming’s research shows that almost all people right eye being more dominant and stronger than the left eyeis. In countries where traffic flows from the left, the accident rate is further reduced because environmental control is done with the right eye and most people tend to the right.

Apart from Leeming’s research, recently the world-renowned vehicle testing program Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), in crash tests vehicles with the steering wheel on the right perform more successfully. however, he explained that the main reason behind this success is not yet fully known.

Traffic in Turkey does not flow completely from the right!

As individuals living in Turkey, we all know that the traffic flows from the right, but we cannot say that the traffic flows from the right in Turkey. As an example, we can show you a situation that people living in Istanbul find strange at first but get used to over time: Metrobus traffic in Istanbul flows on the left.

Behind the left-hand flow of the metrobus traffic in Istanbul, there are the problems experienced in the import of the metrobus years ago. While roads in Turkey are planned according to right-hand traffic; Due to the supply problem with the Netherlands in the first metrobus order for Istanbul, BRT from United Kingdom had been provided. Metrobuses produced in the United Kingdom are also produced according to the flow of traffic from the left and in order to avoid the problems of stops and roads in Istanbul, the metrobuses proceed according to the traffic flowing from the left.

Although it has its own special way; Since the occasional BRT accidents are generally head-on collisions, some sources say that these accidents are may be related to the reverse flow of traffic It was also stated that the metrobus traffic should flow from the right for a while.

what about you about the direction of traffic what do you think?