Drive on the LEFT, you plonkers!

[@PDeRop]

Ok. You're right. I'll drive on the left starting tomorrow. Thank you!

[@michaelmcneil4168]

You already did. When you come out of public building you take a short cut to the left like everyone else. You tend to walk around obstacles to your right and climb over or through the ones in "your way"..

[@PDeRop]

Michael McNeil I'm not sure what you smoked, but I'm sure it should be illegal.

[@davidw.1015]

I don't think he was advocating for it, just replying to the remarks he gets when in America.

[@PDeRop]

David W. The title says : "Drive on the LEFT, you plonkers!". Sure sounds like he's advocating just a little bit :) And my comment was an attempt at humour. Never drive on the other side as the ONLY inhabitant of a country :)

[@davidw.1015]

P. De Rop Oh, ok. But I think the title was joking too, and to catch attention!! :) It'd be pretty hard to drive opposite to what side your country does :) Even if you eliminate the problem of cars, the road configurations would be backwards. Designated turning lanes would be on the road you're turning onto rather the road your turning from. Not to mention the traffic lights facing the other way.

[@pernormann4869]

Don't you worry, the metric system is gaining ground in the UK, inch by inch.

[@danieljames6138]

we got a joker here

[@pernormann4869]

Yee. You should try it sometime...

[@stevel8430]

its easier to work in metric but easier to estimate in imperial. Thats I do it anyway. After all metric products are based on there imperial predecessor's. Timber comes in 50×50 plaster board comes in 1200 × 2400 etc . its much easier to work in because you dont need to use fractions . but if you simply look at a gap you say its about 8ft ie 2 boards or 2400mm

[@stevel8430]

+Lawrence Gardiner yea there is a foot is the same size a size 12 foot . Thats a very easy thing to visualise sure you could count it of in 300mm increments like studs go every 600 ie every 2 feet . but counting 3 6 9 obviously takes more thought than 1 2 3. its not that I learned imperial 1st either im gen y my entire schooling was in metric. it simply that estimating feet is easier . if its the hight of a man well thats about 6 feet .

[@stevel8430]

+Lawrence Gardiner no thats a dwarf lol

[@fds7476]

A funny thing, that is. Back in 1938, when Austria was annexed by Germany during the _Anschluss_, the first thing that happened when German soldiers crossed the border were hundreds of road accidents. Back then, the Germans already drove on the right, but the Austrians still drove on the left... but nobody had bothered to tell that to the Wehrmacht drivers.

[@JonatasMonte]

Also it is really difficult for some people to get used to it.

[@drops2cents260]

So, if we Austrians had stuck a bit longer to our traffic laws back then, we might have been able to slow down the Anschluss significantly? Damn, if only anybody had told us back then...

[@tripsaplenty1227]

+Drops2cents killing the majority of Austrians who supported the Anschluss would have been more effective.

[@sir_humpy]

Does it really matter to you which side to drive on if you drive a Panzer?

[@fds7476]

Evidently, you're not German. _Ordnung muss sein!_

[@Nesseight]

This American took your advice and started driving on the left. You told me it would be safer, you lied to me.

[@thalesnemo2841]

Nesseight And you survived to tell the tale!😜😜😂🤣🐾🐾🐾🐾

[@SpazzMatticusTheGreat]

Thales Nemo What is that mess of emojis.

[@C4ndleJ4ck]

Sherb13 Millennial hieroglyphs

[@SpazzMatticusTheGreat]

Jack Blades Ahhhhhhh. I understand what you mean. They are incomprehensible and pointless.

[@Big-Monkey-Man]

I live in the US. I'm going to start driving on the left, I think it'll catch on.

[@davidw.1015]

But he was just replying to the remarks he gets from Americans, not actually advocating for America to switch.

[@Big-Monkey-Man]

+David W. Well it seemed to have worked, several police cars started following me, I thought they were giving me an escort, and wanted to help spread the idea! but then they ran me off the road! I'll give it another go in 3 to 6 months. I still think it'll catch on

[@davidw.1015]

The Trammell You have to try harder! Your enthusiasm is great, but, you can't wait 3 months. Everyone is counting on you!

[@dralenvan]

I think the problem is that he has to wait 3 months as he is in jail for that time.

[@tohopes]

It'll catch something.

[@Aotearas]

You're not driving on the right side. Your own language has doomed your argument!

[@NobleBrutus]

We are actually - driving on the right side of the car that is.

[@drops2cents260]

+NobleBrutus Well played, good sir!

[@davey1602]

No, we drive on the correct side :p

[@Robil63]

You're right about your right but we are left with driving on the left.

[@Samael16661]

Alas, Aotearas has thus argued sophistically. For "right" has a double meaning: it means what is acceptable, correct and good, as it is often used, while on the other hand we say right in the sense of personal and spatial deixis. Thus he committed the fallacy of ambiguity; deliberately misunderstanding what is meant by "right" in in order to fabricate a refutation.

[@Thrawnmulus]

"Driving on the right is a French imposition of conquest" then lists mostly British colonies as examples of driving on the left.

[@napornik]

+James Hunter I was just about to.... xD

[@NeverEverClever]

That wasnt conquest, it was bringing civilisation (they failed for australia ofc).

[@tomvandaalen273]

And which side did the Africans drive their cars on before?

[@starlite1100]

Thrawnmulus the british empire and French napoleon aren't the same.

[@jman6587]

Being conquered by the French was Bad being invited to join the British Empire was a great honour.

[@firstgoinpostal]

If you don't like how I drive,stay off the sidewalk!

[@femsplainer]

+Matthew Wayer And stop trying to confuse me by spraying blood on the windshield. It's amazingly rude you know!

[@danieljames6138]

I think you mean pavement

[@6272355463637]

Well, I should hope that most roads are entirely paved - so calling just parts of them pavement is really stupid... Well, perhaps not most but certainly the bigger ones which include bits to the side which aren't meant for automobile travel.

[@kirotheavenger60]

you tarmac roads, the pavement is paved, with slabs.

[@maipad3186]

Hahahahahaha

[@StoccTube]

Lindy “India drives on the left”. Me “they appear to drive wherever they like when I was last there”!

[@MegaBYSON]

did you not see the caption at the bottom of the screen he knows this, joke went so far and quick over your head you made the joke again and killed it

[@EtzEchad]

Ah, we do drive on the left. Our steering wheels are on the left. However, you are right about needing the right hand to do the important things. In American cars, the drink holder is generally to the right of the steering wheel. I therefor use my right hand to hold my beer.

[@drops2cents260]

"I therefor use my right hand to hold my beer." I take it you know that you shouldn't drink and drive? At least not at the same time...

[@MikeRees]

Yeah, so ease off the accelerator before you take a sip

[@drops2cents260]

That's what I meant. Would be a damn shame to spill a good beer, right?

[@SgtDefault]

+David Messer - as well as open a Big Mac, flip through a Playboy and light a cigarette. Let's see the Brits do all that with their left hand!

[@ottopike737]

+bowie33333 let's see how many accidents anyone gets into while doing that.

[@hughgrection7246]

So basically every place conquered by Britain drives on the left (with the exception of the North American Colonies, Egypt and China) . Why isn't that surprising ?

[@davidw.1015]

It's the other way around. Driving on the right is only in countries that have been conquered by the french, and subsequent colonies of those countries. Of the European countries, all drove on the left before Napoleon's conquest. He could spread it since France is on the European mainland.

[@davidw.1015]

Smokey MacPot Well, you came across as saying that left-driving was a "silly british" thing.

[@danielw2139]

What can we say? We passed on our intelligence to those who wanted it.

[@HinFoo]

sweden was not conquered by the french, thank you.

[@johan.ohgren]

+HinFoo not military, but our royal family is named bernadotte and is from france.

[@Reach1335]

That's why I got an automatic, so I can drive with my knee.

[@RustyR3volva]

Sounds what an Aussie would do.

[@Emil-yd1ge]

lmao

[@RakastanPorkkanakakkua]

but do you your right or left knee?

[@briaormead4239]

@@RakastanPorkkanakakkua Both

[@elistover]

@@RakastanPorkkanakakkua left because the right is using the peddles. you've driven a car right?

[@petertimowreef9085]

First you're going off about driving on the right is French imperialism and then you talk about India and Australia driving on the left. Ok then. Then you say Racing drivers prefer their gear sticks on the left. I'm kind of a racing enthusiast and from what I've seen gearshifters sit on the right more often as on the left. Checked some 80's F1 onboards to be sure and they confirm this. Then you say that your dominant eye is important. If you're sitting on the left of a vehicle, your dominant eye is more towards the center of the vehicle giving it a better over-view instead of having it's sight-lines impaired by the A-pillar. Britain does have excellently low traffic accident numbers. Not as low as the Scandinavian countries though, who drive on the right. At any rate the discussion is kind of futile, our infrastructure has come such a long way that we're way too heavily invested in either driving left or right. It would be next to impossible to change that I think.

[@TheOwenMajor]

+Peter Timowreef I was thinking the same thing about imperialism. He was going on about the only reason people drive on the right is because the french took them over, then mentioned the smart people that drive on the left... all the countries that England took over.

[@petertimowreef9085]

Owen Major Honestly I don't think there's any substantial safety difference between the two. And if there was it'd be nigh on impossible to measure and quantify. I think Lindybeige feels this way because he happened to be born in a left-driving country.

[@TheOwenMajor]

Peter Timowreef I agree, all the variables involved make this a moot point.

[@blazednlovinit]

+Peter Timowreef How would you explain the 10 fold difference in traffic accidents?

[@petertimowreef9085]

blazednlovinit Between what?

[@justindie7543]

Ok, Britain is right with driving on the left, but wrong with Imperial measurement. France is wrong with driving on the right, but right with the Metric system. and America is just wrong about everything...

[@JonatasMonte]

:)

[@sinistra1136]

Pretty sure we use the metric system too, especially in education

[@aquiteobesepig1439]

I'm sorry, but pints are simply superior to litres. There's no getting around it.

[@jarv7441]

+A Quite Obese Pig Only when you're in a bar.

[@daboyz6106]

And Australia is right about both.

[@coryman125]

I'm right handed and left eyed... Should I drive in the middle?

[@dylanbutler7301]

coryman125 same

[@summertime7651]

Cut out the left eye or cut off the right hand.

[@nedisahonkey]

coryman125 I too share your plight

[@danb4900]

Mclaren F1

[@StopwatchRobert]

A major advantage of driving on the right you didn't mention: when startled by, say, a duck in the road, people tend to swerve to their dominant side. If you're driving on the right, like we do in Canada, that means swerving away from oncoming traffic, not towards it. A disproportionate amount of these kinds of accidents actually occur with left handed people in North America, because they tend to swerve towards traffic.

[@gregoryvnicholas]

WRONG! Aircraft carriers always have their control towers on the starboard (RHS) of the ship because right-handed pilots tend to pull to the left in the event of a landing accident.

[@gaurdians1]

I have to disagree with a few points you made. From what I can tell as a previously professional driver, there's little reason to prefer a hand that uses the steering wheel. Use of a modern steering wheel doesn't require much strength or coordination. There's only two things a steering wheel will do, and a pretty fine line between them; they'll turn left, or they'll turn right. Easily achievable with the left hand. I'd argue that a gear-shift-stick (i forget what these are called atm) is more difficult to use, as there can be as many as 4 directions it can move in at any given time, and it's nearly as important to get those right as well. As for feet, I believe that's almost universally the same. The right foot controls the throttle and brake, whilst the left foot operates the clutch (or sits idly by in an automatic vehicle). Now, I do have to concede the point about being right-eyed. This does admittedly lend an inherent advantage to left-hand-side-of-the-road-drivers. Unless you're drunk. See, whilst driving on the right hand side as someone who is right-eyed, it tends to *look* as if there is less distance between you and the lane to your left than there actually is, effectively keeping you further from that lane. Under standard driving conditions, this may be largely irrelevant as it doesn't make a big impact on driving capability, but if driving impaired... There's potentially a larger buffer zone between you and the opposing lane depending upon your percieved position in your lane. I'm sorry if that was difficult to understand... I found myself having trouble trying to explain it properly. My final counterpoint will argue against the relevance of the final statistic you gave in your video concerning the number of traffic accidents per million miles in the US and Britain. I put it to you to consider that perhaps Americans are just, by and large, innately terrible drivers. Unfortunately, I cannot offer any solid evidence to back up this claim. But I am an American myself, and we'll honestly let anyone drive in this country. We let the elderly drive, we let the deaf and the blind drive, we let the otherwise handicapped (physically and mentally) drive, we let teenagers drive with minimal restrictions.... And I've often heard stories from my peers that they or a friend have failed their theory test and been awarded a license. Accident rates in America are so high (in my opinion) because a significant number of drivers on our roads, simply shouldn't be trusted with a vehicle at all. I seemed to have rambled on for much longer than I'd intended to, now... It's not that I don't appreciate the video. On the contrary, it's quite interesting to hear opposing opinions from time to time and you tend to make very thoughtful points about things in general. It's for that very reason, actually, that I felt the need to pick on a few of them.

[@jeffmcface5848]

Bit late but oh well. You are wrong about a right eye on the right side as it would actually make it seem like there is less space on the right side. Hence one would move slightly further into the middle of the road which as you said is more dangerous. As a left eyed person in a left drive country I must admit that I do usually drive too far to the middle of the road, however I am a minority

[@5hiftyL1v3a]

You don’t need strength or dexterity to use a shifter off handed. It’s heaps better to drive right shift left

[@zachzimmermann5209]

I've got to agree with you. You make a convincing counter-argument. I have to admit as well, thoughtful comments are always an interesting extension to the video.

[@MegaBYSON]

this is a comment section not an essay, bottom line fuk napoleon

[@srelma]

Good points. I'd add to the American comment that in the US the automatic transmission is more common than in Europe. So, if having right hand on the wheel reduced accidents, then I'd imagine that having both hands on the wheel as you have in an automatic car all the time should reduce them even further. Clearly Lloyd's theory doesn't work

[@MaggotDiggo1]

You convinced me that driving on the left is better when you said driving on the right was a French thing.

[@ZeroTheHeroGOAT]

This is just silly. You're not supposed to drive around with your hand on the gearstick, but both hands on your steering wheel.

[@falcons1988]

ZeroTheHero True, having driven LHD cars, I find that when changing gear in congested zones, at rush hour or 30mph town/city driving or rural windy lanes. I have far less control of the vehicle in an LHD than an RHD. It is that split second or that is the difference.

[@ZeroTheHeroGOAT]

Asura R-R I don't really care what you think.

[@ZeroTheHeroGOAT]

Asura R-R Yeah, hogwash.

[@ZeroTheHeroGOAT]

Asura R-R It's hogwash. It might sound sensible but it isn't.

[@ZeroTheHeroGOAT]

Asura R-R I actually can say it's hogwash without explaining why. I don't really CARE if you still go on believing what you just said. I don't and I don't need to convince myself any further. If you're interested to find out whether you're wrong or not, be my guest. Find the reason yourself. This is not an academic institution.

[@Izandaia]

I think you're confusing correlation and causation here. What seems much more likely to me is that there's just more of a culture of safe, cautious driving in the UK than in other countries. To prove that driving on the left is safer you'd need to look at all countries, control for other factors, and then compare the accident rates of those that drive on the right and those that drive on the left.

[@de0509]

Pretty sound idea

[@KickyFut]

*And* compare like with like! England population ~50 million, U.S. population is over 300 million.

[@Balsiefen]

@@KickyFut That _is_ like with like. It's per million miles, so it's population independent.

[@KickyFut]

Miles? He was using deaths per year... By country(if memory serves me). If it was measuring how many casualties in percentage, it should be closer.

[@Kirealta]

Ireland is really safe. We drive on the left.

[@illiminatieoverlordgurglek140]

1:22 Sooo, basically all of the former British Empire.. What was that point about driving on the right as a sign of submission to French rule?

[@roybennett9788]

japan wasnt a british colony. neither was guyana. and neither was cyprus.

[@felixthecat0371]

@@roybennett9788 but India, Australia and New Zealand were

[@sherlockhooves574]

@@felixthecat0371 You could make the same argument if every country in the world drove on the left side. "The entire British Empire drives on the left side (plus some other, entirely unrelated countries) therefore it's a sign of British occupation!

[@agustinl2302]

@@roybennett9788 Guyana was a British colony. Cyprus was a British colony. And while no, Japan wasn't occupied by the British, nor was China by the French. What now?

[@ralfmoebius4260]

driving on the right side is as wrong as democracy or metric system.

[@joshuadtalbot3]

You missed out the best part of why we drive on the left! When we still primarily used horses people would ride on the left hand side of the road so that if they needed to draw their sword they'd already be facing the right side.

[@joshuadtalbot3]

+Joshua Talbot Forgive me if this is wrong, I'm sure I heard it somewhere before.

[@game4ce]

+Joshua Talbot I've heard this as well. The story also goes that Napoleon was a lefty and therefore made everybody ride on the right.

[@blazednlovinit]

+Joshua Talbot Hear hear mate, weapon arm at the ready

[@Ray-wy4kq]

+Joshua Talbot That was mainly because of mounting. Riders would mount their horses from the left. In order to not have to mount in the middle of the road, they'd use the left hand side.

[@FaenWszystkoZajete]

+Joshua Talbot NCIS?

[@JenoPaciano]

You'd actually want your dominant hand performing the more complicated tasks. Handling a manual stick shift, changing the radio station, or even clicking buttons on a GPS if one had to are all more complicated than simply holding a wheel straight. I've known people to drive with one finger; that's how easy it is to handle the wheel. And having your right eye further from what you're seeing has no impact on how quickly you react to it, since lightspeed is lightspeed.

[@CESARE416]

My thought exactly.

[@xeigen2]

+JenoPaciano Steering is a far more difficult task, shifting gears with the left hand is very easy. Steering is the more critical task too, if you fumble a gear change it's an inconvenience... If you are imprecise with your steering it can get you killed. Sure, holding the wheel straight takes next to no effort but it's not always that simple. Certainly not on the small, twisty roads of the UK. As for changing the radio, that's not even slightly difficult, I can do that without looking with my left hand. Fiddling with a GPS and stuff of that nature.... You shouldn't be doing that while you are driving. Your attention should be on the road, not on the GPS screen. If you need to do that you do it while you are stopped, lots of people die while distracted adjusting their GPS. At the end of the day though I'm not convinced it makes any difference whether you drive on the left or the right.

[@JenoPaciano]

Xei If you're driving around curves, you should have two hands on the wheel. If you're going straight, you use one hand and cruise control. That's why the dominant hand stays free to do literally anything you might need to do.

[@xeigen2]

+JenoPaciano A lot of the roads in the UK are an endless set of curves, you don't have the option to keep two hands on the wheel at all times. You have to take a hand off the wheel to shift gears.

[@JenoPaciano]

Xei You don't have the option to keep two hands on the wheel at all times? You realize this is why automatic transmissions were built, right? One hand on the wheel going around curves is unsafe.

[@richard_nj]

Two general points on the points Lloyd made: 1. Racing drivers did not 'pretty much all' choose to have the gear lever on the on their left. When it comes to motorsport I'm mostly into F1 and a little into endurance racing, so I'm not claiming to speak for all of motorsport, but in the days F1 actually featured true manual transmission, they had the gear lever almost exclusively on the right. And we're talking about about eras of F1 that were dominated by British teams (Lotus, McLaren, Williams, Brabham etc.) here, with most of the drivers also coming from the UK, and yet they chose to have the stick to their right. Now back in the day in endurance racing, all race cars had to undergo homologation to be approved for the races. That means they had to be based on real life cars that could be bought and driven on public roads (the GT class still works that way). One consequence of this was that teams could actually choose between right- and left-hand drive. In old pictures you might find that most of them decided to put the driver on the right, the reason not being that this was the superior side, as Lloyd wants us to believe, but rather that the most important and prestigious race of the year was driven in Le Mans, a clockwise track made up almost entirely of right-hand corners. Putting the driver on the inside of those corners simply made for better weight distribution. A lot of the drivers driving those cars in right hand drive actually found the gear lever to be awkward on the left, which led to many driving on the right and shifting with the right (which looks really weird if you ask me and is a huge indicator that drivers actually preferred right hand shifting). A famous example of this is the Ford lineup from '66, which incidentally featured Ken Miles and Bruce McLaren as their best drivers, both of which would shift with their left if they were driving at home on the roads, yet on the racetrack, they chose to have it the other way. 2. The statistics about the correlation of road safety and side of driving is presented completely without context. Yes, GB ranks a bit better than other European countries with similar total pop, pop density, and standard of living (I think France and Germany are the best comparison in those regards, Spain and Italy are also similar) in terms of road fatalities per capita, fatalities per distance driven and also mortality rate of people involved in accidents (when it comes to fatalities per vehicles, Britain is en par with these countries). But to attribute that fact solely to driving on the left side of the road is ridiculous to me. Britain for example has by far the lowest speed limit on motorways out of that group of countries, that plays a role right? There are loads of factors that go into how many accidents happen and how severe they are. And it's not like Britain scores twice as good as Germany or France in road safety statistics, as Lloyd claims.

[@HENKOMAT]

Some more factors: Speed of travel Age of vehicle Safety measures of vehicle Type of vehicle (suv, Limo, small Car) Engine power Hospital quality, density Emt quality, speed And then you would still have to factor in "driving culture" and rules

[@benjaminencarmine]

Sod off.

[@richard_nj]

@@benjaminencarmine yeah, I'm not gonna do that

[@zulubeatz1]

@@richard_nj Mores the pity

[@superqwat8618]

@@HENKOMAT Really-really underrated comment.

[@Shakespeareric]

This is precisely why so much tea ended up in Boston Harbor.

[@franzluggin398]

"It still tastes bad to this day."

[@drops2cents260]

Which would explain why Americans still haven't learned how to make a decent cup of tea and thus prefer a hot beverage resembling to what is usually called coffee (which isn't really inferior, but just a different type of poison to be chosen on personal preference) in civilized countries (not Northern Germany, for instance). I mean, putting tea leaves in cold salt water - that's just wrong.

[@fletcherrossi3692]

Drops2cents still better than paying the queen

[@UKMonkey]

Because Americans can't deal with it when told they're wrong?

[@tx942cg]

@@UKMonkey Your version of "right" got it's ass booted out of the colonies by a bunch of boozed up farmers and frontiersmen. Btw, do you have a license to be watching youtube?

[@TrangleC]

If your off hand is so clumsy that manipulating a steering wheel is a problem, you might not just be a "lopsided ape", you might have a spastic impairment. I'm quite alright with being a right handed right side driver. If I would have to use my left hand to not just shift gear, but manipulate all those gadgets that are common in modern cars, I would have to avert way more attention away from the road than I do now. The minutely better control my right hand can exude over the steering wheel would certainly not make up for that. Also, they don't drive on the left in some parts of Africa, Asia and on some islands because it somehow is "the natural way", but because of colonialism. Japan is, as far as I know the only country that has adapted left side driving without being a current or former British colony and the Japanese did it because at the time they considered the British Empire the best power to emulate overall, not because driving on the left side is somehow superior or more natural. If they would have had to make that decision a few decades later, they would most likely have copied the American way of doing it. Right side driving on the other hand (no pun intended) was not just chosen by former French colonies.

[@JnnyUtah35]

I agree, regardless of the history of which side to drive on (which is very interesting), having the right hand towards the center of the car makes much more sense (for a right handed person). The steering wheel is just movement in a guided circle...big deal. Shifting is manipulating a stick through a maze (until it becomes 2nd nature), turning the keys, using the e-brake, changing radio stations, etc...all tasks best served with the dominant hand. Although it does make giving a vulgar gesture to an opposite vehicle more difficult. Perhaps that was the real reasons Brits drive on the left ;)

[@Darksaber96]

In my opinion there are a couple of more factors which were not addressed. For instance let's look at speed limits. After a real quick research on this topic I see that in Britain, you are driving way slower than especially in Germany, but also slower than in France or the Netherlands. I think it makes sense that speed does have a huge impact on traffic accidents. Also the video is describing advantages in terms of reaction times through the stronger side of limps/eyes. Advantages in terms of brain processing is achieved mainly by training. Thus people who drive all their lives on the right side of the street should be accustomed to using their sensory resources to it fullest potential. I think it is clear where I want to get here. The video does indeed make a fine theory, but I can easily formulate a theory which stands for the opposite effect. Unless there is statistically significant and empirical conducted research of the topic I would advice against claiming that driving on the left is better as driving on the right or vice versa. I am happy to hear opinions.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I have read articles of left-handed people complaining they can't drive stick shift, because they have to shift with their off hand.

[@WhereWeRoll]

+Schwarzer Ritter That makes no sense seeing how people who what spent their who lives driving on the right drive just fine in the UK and vice versa. It's also the simplest task ever. Just put the shifter in one of six positions.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

The Interface I guess it is the same people who can't write on spiralbound paper, because the wire hurts.

[@DetectiveIncognito]

I can drive manual and I'm left handed.

[@Luchoedge]

+Schwarzer Ritter weird, I'm a leftie and I find comfortable to just sit my hand in the shift stick while driving. I Don't even have to move my hand from the wheel. (I DO drive with both hands in their correct positions when the traffic conditions justify it)

[@vitovtwik]

+Schwarzer Ritter Same thought. Shifting requires more coordination than just keeping your car within the line.

[@pahkthecahinhahvahdyahd5577]

Actually in the USA, we learn only to use one foot when driving. (At least thats what my grandfather told me.)

[@pahkthecahinhahvahdyahd5577]

Also we probably have more car crashes because we nearly quadruple your population, so there's almost always more Americans in cars at a time than Brits.

[@lindybeige]

Pahk the Cah in Hahvahd Yahd No, the figures I quoted are not affected by the population size. One foot? So you take a foot off the accelerator (gas) to press the clutch to change gear?

[@pahkthecahinhahvahdyahd5577]

No, you use only one foot for the accelerator and you take it off to put it on the brake. I don't think we do anything with the left foot, and gears are changed either automatically or with a stick-shift, but more commonly nowadays, automatically.

[@tasatort9778]

Lindybeige Most automobiles sold in the USA come with automatic transmissions, but you can special order a vehicle with a standard transmission although that is rare.

[@DefMunkyYT]

Yeah, I think maybe the OP is too young to remember standard transmissions (which ironically enough are no longer standard in the US) and the fact that they did have a clutch. I'm pretty surprised his grandfather didn't mention anything about standard transmission vehicles either though. But yeah, any car you buy here will by default have an automatic transmission. If you want a standard you often have to order it that way (as stated above) if it is offered that way and most likely pay more for it. I'm not sure it is even an option on most "normal" cars anymore, but it still seems to be available on sports cars. Here you are taught in Driver's Ed. to keep both hands on the wheel (not that anyone does, lol). As for the actual subject matter, it is an interesting theory but pretty much any accident I have been involved in throughout my life seemed to be because of some stupid mistake or lack of attention on part of someone involved (including myself) and the side of the road that was being driven on would have had no affect. Besides, regardless of your dominant hand if you drive a standard transmission vehicle you will train yourself accordingly to do so as you drive the vehicle. If I were to start writing left handed (I am right handed) then it would be awful at first, but it would get better. One can train themselves to be ambidextrous. Ask just about any right handed person that has broken their right hand. lol So the precision or speed with which one can turn the wheel with their left hand will become moot at some point.

[@barghestblue731]

but manipulating the steering wheel is much easier than manipulating the gear-stick, meaning that it would be better to use your dominant hand for the more complicated task, also you learn to do things the way you are taught, so if someone was right handed but learned to drive left-hand-on-wheel, right-hand-on-stick then it would feel unnatural to drive the other way around because they didn't learn how to drive that way, their hands don't really know what to do

[@Big5ocks]

Barghest Blue controlling the gear stick becomes muscle memory after ~100ish hours driving. It is also far less critical in avoiding accidents. Gotta go with lindy on this one.

[@barghestblue731]

It may be less critical to avoiding accidents, but then you just put both hands on the wheel, simple. Also since the dominant eye also tends to correlate with the dominant hand, your view of whats ahead of you is more centered in the windshield so you can see more of whats ahead of you and gives a more complete view of sides of the roads without as much need to move your head.

[@mf_from_hell]

Yes, I second your comments! This is exactly the points I was going to bring up. It is the whole point of driving schools.

[@ocircles738]

The only time servo is an issue is when you're going really slow, i.e. when you're very unlikely to cause any serious harm. Once you go above 20km/h (something like this, been a while since I drove one) it's really no different than with servo.

[@eztimesaverz]

you dont change gear to avoid an accident,you use the steering wheel and pedals, but admittedly both hands are on the wheel by that point]

[@Josh_Fredman]

The higher incidence of American wrecks isn't because we drive on the right. It's partly because our culture glorifies recklessness and swagger. Check into those statistics and you'll see that a great deal of road deaths involve young people and intoxicated people (and often both). And it's partly because most American towns and smaller cities are physically spread out but have poor public transit, requiring private automobile use where in many other countries it would be easy to walk, bus, bike, or take a train. This reinforces the fact that people often drive while intoxicated. Having said all that, as a left-hander I definitely appreciate having opposing traffic on my left side. It's much more natural and comfortable for me to deal with that regime. (Tangent: And as a prolific typist I greatly adore the QWERTY keyboard layout.)

[@ArchonCommando]

+Josh Fredman Also your driving tests are a joke. No offense but really compared to most european nations a toddler could get a license in america.

[@caelodevorago608]

+Archoncommando I studied for an hour before the test in the USA... and I passed with a %100 on the New York test But I fully agree with you +Josh Fredman But left-sided driving is still safer.

[@RebeccaFarquharson]

I don't think you have ever visited the UK. British drivers drive further than American drivers because amenities and public services are further and industry requires commuting. Much of britains housing is in what is termed 'commuter settlements' where from residents would drive over 50 miles to work daily. Whereas in the US people mostly live in the same conurbation they work and trade. Britains public transport is not commuter friendly and is abysmal compared to Europe and the US. That would be because travelling predetermined routs is not commuter friendly. Private vehicles are more necessary in the UK than in the US. Like for like in the UK most road traffic incidents are caused by reckless driving and usually the agonist is a younger driver. Likewise car insurance in the UK is more expensive for younger drivers as it is in the US. There is no difference in the culture between the UK and the US. I hope you can read about this.

[@ArchonCommando]

I am not Taylor Swift step-cousins are living with their mom in america for a couple of years. One turned 16 a while ago and took a driving test. Told me what she had to do and buffled by the difference i asked her if that was the normal way to do that test in america. So she asked around and the people she knew at school confirmed it.

[@JohnMorley1]

I was driving at 120mph at every opportunity in my career and I never had an accident. I did 120 mph in the rain at night. I did 100 mph on snow. Just how reckless are you Americans if you are out recklessing me?

[@Quintapus]

People drive on the left in Thailand and South Africa and they have just about the highest numbers of traffic deaths. Guyana and Uganda, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Malaysia all have very high crash and death ratios on the road and they all drive on the left. Left or right doesn't seem to matter. Yes the UK and Ireland and Japan and Australasia all have safe roads, but they are not the safest, they are out stripped by countries that drive on the right. Correlation does not imply causation and they isn't even a correlation here. I'm right handed, but I do many tasks better with my left hand because I only use my left hand for them. Once your brain is programmed a certain way it really doesn't matter if you're a rightly or a lefty.

[@josefsmith6345]

Quintapus Those are all shitty countries.

[@Hiraghm]

I was taught not to drive with my hand on the gearstick, except when I was shifting gears, just as I was taught not to have my foot riding the clutch when I was not shifting gears.

[@roccopiosaracino3681]

Keeping your foot on the clutch while not shifting gears is really dangerous, don't ever do that

[@roccopiosaracino3681]

@@Buffalo_Soldier if you rest your feet on the clutch you could press it by accident (those pedals are really sensible) , therefore going in neutral and causing an incident

[@shurdi3]

@@roccopiosaracino3681 quite hard to cause an accident just by disengaging the clutch. One very bad thing about driving with your foot on the clutch though is that you can have partial clutch disengagement. This leads to major clutch wear, and you get worse reaction when you hit the gas, since your clutch is much more prone to slipping.

[@roccopiosaracino3681]

@@shurdi3 yeah that's a problem too, and i know that going neutral is not that risky but you don't wan to do that while you are on a slope

[@unfortunately_fortunate2000]

@@roccopiosaracino3681 I dont see how it'd be any more of an issue on a slop either, unless you are going up, in that case, yeah, bad things will be more likely to happen.

[@KajuneK8]

Now I'm waiting to hear that imperial units are superior to metric.

[@arielsolomon5645]

+KajuneK8 It makes more sense if your numbering system is hexadecimal or dozenal which is wildly superior to decimal systems for many the same reasons metric is superior to the imperial system as we have it. Suddenly 12 inches in a foot and 3 foot to a yard(a reasonably useful measurement like the meter) Miles break the pattern a little bit but still can be dealt with reasonably with 12 and it's factors. divide 5280 by 12 you get 440 (quarter mile in feet) Divide it by 6 you get 880, divide it by 3 you get 1760. IF we said the mile were 3456 feet (which happens to be 1.05 Kilometers) and corrected everything between mile an yard we should have as follows: 12 inches in a foot 3 Foot to a yard 12 Yards is a chain 12 chain to a furlong 12 furlong is a mile Consider that you have 12 knuckles on 4 fingers. Your hand effectively becomes a simple abacus able to divide and multiply by factors of 12. Now I'm going to bed before I cry myself to sleep after making up this crap.

[@dynamicworlds1]

+Ariel Solomon No, you pretty much got it right. Imperial units work great for base 12, and base 12 is much better than base 10. It's just using imperial units in base 10 that's stupid.

[@leifvejby8023]

+DynamicWorlds Base ten seems to work better than base twelve where I live - most of us have only ten fingers, not twelve.

[@arielsolomon5645]

***** each finger has 3 joints, you have 4 fingers. 12 joints on each hand giving you the ability to count to 24 with both hands.

[@leifvejby8023]

I am not a toon, I've got five fingers on each hand.

[@numbers9to0]

Drive in the middle and everything is ok. :)

[@lamia197]

so... everyone get a mclaren f1?

[@koolyman]

It's a compromise everyone can agree to :)

[@muppeteer]

***** I should think there would be plenty of room freed up either side to allow for some pretty vigorous swerving

[@ThePointlessBox_]

sign me the fuck up

[@magnustruesdale6291]

“You europeans”. I think Lloyd is forgetting something.

[@RakastanPorkkanakakkua]

the brits island is pretty much a self continent for bongs at this point.

[@carlosgaspar8447]

he's also forgotten about left handed guitar players driving on the right side.

[@Caroleonus]

Only as much as you're forgetting what the terms "Europe" and "the continent" mean to Brits when speaking comparitively like this.

[@RadioactivFly]

Actually, driving on the right developed here in America entirely separately from in France. Conestoga wagons, which were common in the 1700s and 1800s in America, were driven from a position on the left side of the wagon. Thus, these wagons drove on the right side of the road so the driver could see the road ahead and wouldn't be hit by tree branches. This started the custom of driving on the right in America before the French Revolution even took place.

[@sondrejohansen48]

RadioactivFly I hope you know that the French colonised USA back in early 1600s

[@gianb3952]

Edward J. Napoleon wasn't alive back in the 1600s

[@Oxley016]

Lindy’s point was that Napoleon changed the rules in France and then across all of Europe that he had conquered from left sided to right sided A) Since he was a power hungry git that did whatever he could get away with and B) He was left handed himself so why not. Before then France had indeed rode horses and driven carts on the left side whilst sitting on the right side like in Britain etc currently.

[@KairuHakubi]

I know that's why our racetracks go counterclockwise.

[@dhorto27]

yonderTheGreat if that’s the case then why wouldn’t we use the metric system?

[@DontMockMySmock]

I don't really think that driving on whichever side of the road makes as much a difference as you think. There are a lot of other differences between the UK and the US and other countries that could be relevant to the data. I'm not really sure how you'd even study such a thing scientifically - there's not really any way to have an effective controlled comparison. Also, most cars these days are automatic transmissions; makes the whole handedness thing pretty irrelevant. A difference in the small percentage (6.7%, google tells me) of manual drivers can't possibly explain the difference between the US and UK data. And eyes don't have nearly the asymmetry as hands do (and overlap greatly in their fields of view anyway). I just don't buy it.

[@Fidd88-mc4sz]

You're quite wrong about dominant eyes being irrelevant. There are differences in perception of speed, distance and acuity. It's not just the eye, it's the "wiring" of the brain to eye. The first thing the army does is to establish a soldier's dominant-eye, as a small subset of people have a dominant eye that's different to their dominant hand. It's the dominant eye that's important for a soldier aiming a weapon, rather than their dominant hand operating the rifle. Consequently I find Lindy's argument very persuasive that driving on the right is ill-suited to a primarily right-handed population. When you think about it, there's no rationale for driving on either side - other than keeping one's sword hand free to engage the oncoming highwayman! - Until the advent of the motor-car, meaning that we established which side different countries drive BEFORE adopting the technology where driving on the left is measureably safer. By which time it was fast becoming too late to change.

[@DontMockMySmock]

@@Fidd88-mc4sz it has been ten years since I left this comment and I am no longer invested in this argument but I am here to say no lol you're wrong, driving does not require the kind of precision that firing a rifle does. Success in driving requires broad awareness, not hyper focus. Firing a rifle is like the opposite of driving.

[@DontMockMySmock]

@@Fidd88-mc4sz oh also I forgot to mention (although I see I did mention it ten years ago) that when driving you use both eyes, unlike in rifle shooting. So that's why the army cares about eye dominance but drivers dont

[@Fidd88-mc4sz]

@@DontMockMySmock Both "swareness" and precision are required, the latter especially if something untoward happens, such as an unwise over-take of an opposite direction vehicle. I take your point that in general "broad awareness" is enough most of the time. But that's not the scenario Lindy laid out, is it? He was speaking to those occasions where there's nearly an accident. Finally, the reason the army test for which eye is dominant, is because whilst it's physiologically essentially just a mirror-image of the the other one, neurologically they are different, and having someone shoot with their non-dominant eye usually results in them being unable to hit the broad-side of a barn. Fine muscle-control when restricted to the non-dominant eye is likewise degraded. Which again, is Lindy's point, as the left-eye - (the non-dominant eye) is the one with which US drivers first see an obstacle when over-taking. The reverse is true for drivers who drive on the left. Hence the disparity of accident rates.

[@DontMockMySmock]

@@Fidd88-mc4sz show me the evidence that eye dominance has ANYTHING to do with accident rates.

[@ModernGrimm]

I've just spent a week in Ireland, driving around a 1000 kms on the left, so I can see some of your points - reaction time maybe better, couldn't measure it, but whatever. Got used to it fairly quickly, it was a nice change, and not at all hard, I recommend every right-side driver to try it out. I don't agree with the necessity of the better hand on the wheel though - the wheel is quite limited in terms of movement, right or left, on a predetermined path, while at the gear shift a couple centimeters can make a difference, so you absolutely need the precision. Also my main issue was with the signals and the gear shift being on the same hand. You approach the intersection, signal the turn with your left, then reach for the shift with your left, 1st, 2nd, turn off the signal, 3rd... with your less precise, clumsy hand, instead of dividing it up between the two.

[@GOTOHELL57331]

I'm a leftie, so I absolutely love right-side driving

[@MsciwojPL]

Have you tried to drive a car with the steering wheel on the left side? Changing gears with your right hand is more comfortable and faster, not only because most people are right handed, but also you put low gears, by pulling gear stick towards you (which is more comfortable), and low gears are used more often. I agree that british roads are quite safe, but the indian roads are one of the most dangerous in the world, with 207.5 deaths per 100,000 motor vehicles annually, for comparison, Norway has 4.4 deaths, UK 6.2, so it does not prove anything.

[@DownHereInChile]

I see the steering wheel-gear stick hand relationship as riding a bike or a horse. If you were to use a sword or any weapon while on them, provided you're right handed, you'd use them on your right hand, whilst leaving your left hand to do the steering. As a matter of fact, I've come to see too many people (mostly kids who have never driven a car) who do this, and who feel insecure if they do it with their other hand (bikes start wobbling). Why do I think this happens? Well, our dominant hands are great for fine, precise work; they're far more dynamic, whereas our non-dominant hand and arm are 'stiffer yet sturdier' (our non-dominant arm also tends to be stronger. It's just clumsy). As for vision, if you're righthanded, and your dominant eye is your right one, sitting on the left side of the car will give your dominant eye the widest arc of vision, so you should be able to spot more potential threats more effectively. Loved the video, though. Nice arguments. Keep it up!

[@nvcnvn]

DownHereInChile Just a fun opinion: say you delivery news paper with a bike (or a horse) then you will want to drive in the right side, then you can easier to throw for the right side. If you drive on the left, both side a bit more difficult to throw :D

[@Halogeek-zq7yr]

I'll remember this when I need to duel someone via car joust

[@Tombombadillo999]

DownHereInChile exaclty what i tried to mean in my comment. Driving with ur left hand just feels better, as u said same whn u start driving a bike (i still do), when driving one handed, right handed people usually use the left.

[@colapundarn]

Great idea! I shall from now on only drive on the left! ( lets hope all the other in sweden does this too tomorow )

[@colapundarn]

now i don't have a car or a drivers license :P

[@pyro1324]

+colapundarn Well.. We did change from left hand traffic to right hand traffic in the late 60s. So I think it would defeat the purpose of the change in the first place...

[@colapundarn]

yeah... but say that to my car ;)

[@krisinsaigon]

Have you ever seen that famous photo of all the car crashes the day Sweden changed?

[@jif.6821]

I was going to site India (left side driving) as a example of driving ineptness but then remembered China (right side driving) as being just as bad. Being born and raised in post war Japan I remember my dad always complaining how bad drivers were in Japan (left side driving). Then we moved to Hawaii (right side driving), and dad started saying the drivers in Hawaii were even worse than Japan. I have come to the conclusion that bad drivers exist everywhere regardless of which side of the road is driven on. Things only got worse with the invention of the smart phone. Every erratic driver I have passed lately is seen either texting of talking on a smart phone. The smart phone is making people dumber.

[@philv2529]

Americans used to "drive" (wagons, horses) on the left until sometime in the 18th or 19th century when the Conestoga wagons became the oldie semi-trucks of that era. When driving a Conestoga wagon, one person sat in the wagon and guided the horses while another walked alongside the wagon to pull the massive hand brake when they stopped. Originally, since they drove on the left, the person would walk along the right side of the wagon to pull the brake. But since most people are right handed it was easier to drive the wagon on the right side of the road and walk along the left side of the wagon so you can pull the brake with your dominant right hand. I suspect that other nations followed this American example, but I have no proof of this.

[@tonydavidson396]

Phil V 0

[@clearlypellucid]

I think you've forgotten that there once was a time when there was no such thing as a gear shift, and now there is a time where there is not one again. So yes, it may have been the case that from the time of the beginning of the gear shift until the time of the invention of automatic transmission, the British had the best idea. Also, most of those places you cited were British colonies, so driving on the left was just as much an imposition of conquest. The reason British drivers are less likely to die is because you drive really, really slowly compared to Americans and other people in less population dense countries. It's a lot easier to die flying along a highway filled with hundreds of other people than it is plunking along on a city street, even if there are just as many people around. To be honest, it seems highly unlikely to me that it really makes any difference in terms of safety or efficiency. Vehicle controls aren't really delicate enough for handedness to make much of a difference.

[@Getz-Da-Chompy]

About the British conquest thing - actually it is beneficial to everyone to drive on the left since the time of horses and carts, or even just walking on the left, for similar reasons. If you were approaching someone on a road and you didn't trust them, it benefits you to walk on the left because they will be on your right, a.k.a most probably your swordarm, as it will be easier to defend yourself. I thought Napoleon changed it to the right when he took over because he himself was left handed, but it may make more sense if he actually did it as a way of showing resentment of the British, after all they essential were his biggest rival

[@clearlypellucid]

Steven Hackett Nowadays from a self-defense standpoint it's better to walk on the right. You wouldn't want your enemy close to your firearm, which if you're right-handed will be on your right.

[@Getz-Da-Chompy]

The problem with that is that by time firearms had become a big thing there was already a system developed for driving on the left, and changing that would have massive consequences, as you'd need to change every single road and sign overnight, EVERYBODY would need to be informed, certain habits have to be unlearned , and the whole thing would cost more money then it would take to make everyone in Britain (or pretty much any left-driving country) a millionaire.

[@lujoja8226]

You make an unfair comparison between British cities and American highways there. I've visited the USA on numerous occasions and have been "unfortunate" enough to have driven within the city. In New York you are literally trapped in a traffic jam for what seems like hours! You are better off walking or taking the train/tram metro. Also there are "highways" in Britain too, we call them motorways! We have similar speed limits too! In the USA, a speed limit of 30 mph in urban areas and 35 mph on unpaved rural roads is enforced. The speed limit for county paved roads is 45 mph. All other 2 lane roads are limited to 55 mph. The interstate limit is 70 mph while other highways are limited to 65 mph. Now In the UK, the limits are 30 mph in Urban areas, 60 mph on a 'single carriageway' and 70 mph on 'dual carriageways', which are literally the same thing as the American highways differing in the number of lanes respectively, and also 70 mph on motorways, which are like our version of your 'interstate' highways. Visual references... British motorway: media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/001e0071-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_4335ba6f-ea4d-4818-bcee-7693ba9096a9_20111208164006_Motorway900x540_13.jpg An American 4 lane highway, like an interstate: www.visualphotos.com/photo/2x3869638/aerial_view_of_vehicles_moving_on_a_multiple_lane_highway_interstate_4_orlando_florida_usa_gwt172043.jpg Therefore, I can conclude that we essentially drive at the same speeds on essentially the same type of roads - rendering your argument void! Therefore, actually Lindy and we Brits (and co.) are seemingly correct in our theory regarding which side of the road to drive on. The statistics don't tell lies, pal. ;)

[@clearlypellucid]

Luke J The statistics don't tell lies, but the only statistics you've shown are that the theoretical speed limits in Britain are the same as the theoretical speed limits in the US. You've failed to establish the frequency with which British people use motorways versus the frequency with which Americans use highways. You've also failed to establish that British people drive cars as frequently as Americans. It turns out that Americans spend ~20% more time in cars than Brits: www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8287098/Britons-spend-more-time-driving-than-socialising.html www.ask.com/question/average-time-spent-in-a-car (Couldn't find a better source for America in the amount of time I was willing to spend on this.)

[@captianmorgan7627]

"Almost 1 in 3 drivers around the world drives on the left" and then he proceeds to list mostly a bunch of former English colonies or places that were under English rule. India alone accounts for about half of that 1 in 3. Next we get a list of (good) reasons why it is not silly to drive on the left. One really doesn't have much to do with the other. The reason 1 in 3 drive on the left is due to history not because it is better in anyway, the same as why 2 in 3 drive on the right. Kind of 'lopsided' to mention one but not the other.

[@tomoswilliams2827]

He mentioned napoleons conquest which is a good reason, the us also does it because you used to like the French more than you liked us

[@BearsThatCare]

Huh. I wonder what India, Southern Africa, and Australia all have in common that would make them follow this driving pattern... And strange... a map of all these counties that drive on the left bears an uncanny resemblance to a map of counties that play cricket... (as represented by the International Cricket Council) I wonder what they have in common.

[@BearsThatCare]

No but in all seriousness cricket is a game invented by the British to punish the countries they once colonized.

[@Scruit]

As a British ex-pat who has driven on both sides of the road, I say there's no difference in modern vehicles. There may hev been historical reasons to use one side or the other - the only real difference is that Brit get to use their right hand when interacting with drive-through services. Which hand is on the wheel and which is on the gear shift? Unless I'm shifting gears, both hands on the wheel, so that's irrelevant. My UK driving test was an hour long. I did IAM too. My US driver's road test was about 7 minutes, and most of that was at a red light listening to the examiner drooling over my accent. Back then there was no written test in there UK (pre-photo licenses too, so my license is still the pink sheet of A4!) whereas Ohio has a written test, signs test, eye test and cone maneuverability test. The UK test had a driving portion, parallel park, reverse around the corner, turn in the road using forward and reverse gears, etc The big difference is that US roads are too big, and there are too many lanes. It gives drivers a sense that they have some bestowed right to proceed uninterrupted in their lanes at all times because they usually can, and woe betide anyone that gets in their way - drivers tend to defend their right of way by driving in a selfish manner. UK roads tend to require drivers to work together to get past parked cars etc, so people tend to have a sense that driving is a co-operative venture, so are much more willing to yield, slow down, let people in/past etc. That is my observation from a quarter of a century of driving split between England and Ohio.

[@AndreaRoll]

let me show you why you're wrong: if you drive on the left side of the road than you don't drive on the right side of the road. if you don't drive on the right side of the road than you ride on the wrong side of the road. easy.

[@LawandOrderCyraxxVictimsUnit]

Can verify this, I live in Australia where we drive on the left. I experimented today by driving on the right and was in an accident almost immediately!

[@quantustremorestfuturus5434]

Former British colonies do as British, that's natural. So many factors affect accidents statistics, you cannot use this as an argument. And I think the argument can be reversed. Indeed it is easy to "reparameter" an arm for one specific task (holding the wheel). It's way harder for several tasks (changing gears, putting on the radio, changing the temperature of the AC, and so on). So the "best arm" is actually best used... as the miscelaneous tasks arm. Drive on the right, it's better.

[@jjohnston94]

Curious that the list of countries that drive on the left is pretty much the same as the list of former British colonies.

[@hihu7200]

As an American, I drive on the right side of the road while eating french fries and using French to express my views of other drivers ability. If I am in a good mood, I listen to music so good that it is revolutionary. :)

[@MykeruMedia]

Last time I was in Britain was 2007. Hopefully it's still there. Anyway, I rented a car and drove from London to Cornwall to visit my Aunt. I drove because the notorious and insane British woman I was in, I mean with. Okay, in, who may be imprisoned again, or not, couldn't drive a manual transmission. What I found amazing is I could rent a car with my questionable U.S. driver's license without even getting a pamphlet on British road signs and signals. I learned as I went, with the crazy women informing me what those squiggly lines meant, a second or two past the point the information would be useful. Letting me, ill-informed with a known nutter felon riding shotgun, doesn't seem the safest policy for road safety in Britain. Also, I'm a fugitive myself as I just found the £50 ticket I got outside the Tate St. Ives that I thought I lost. I will fight extradition. Although, if someone can assure me I can pay this without ending up in the Brit version of Gitmo (which is probably Gitmo) I would appreciate it.

[@esabria]

Don't see why it should be a problem. Signals are signals. More or less the same in every country. I don't know how US licenses are, but in Europe (from what I have seen at least) everyone takes their driving licenses with manual. It is assumed that you know how to manage a gearing stick. I stated driving on the right (European license at the time) been in the UK for nearly a couple of years now, and never had any problems... And I started driving properly o the left in London, mind you! It is more a thing of getting used to it and go extra carefully meanwhile. I agree that a crazy co-pilot doesn't help much though. I can't comment anything on the fine, but I doubt it would be something very major. Pay the thing with interests (not cheap probably), maybe appeal that you are a foreign, lost the ticket, something like that. THat's what I would do, at least. :-) Hope it helps!

[@Werrf1]

esabria the US driving test is a joke (says the guy who learned to drive in Britain before emigrating at crazy woman point). No emergency stops, no real manoeuvrability test, no turn in the road, no main road driving, and it takes about ten minutes. This is largely because the US driving licence is more like an ID card than a statement of competence.

[@clearlypellucid]

I keep randomly running into semi-popular KZbinrs in unrelated-to-them comment sections! Woo!

[@shaneschannel9289]

Werrf1 Yeah they will let any idiot drive here!

[@AeridisArt]

Werrf1 Apparently you didn't take your driving test in Worcester, MA... they make you drive through a 6-way intersection! Not all tests are the same. Also, Lindybeige didn't take drunk driving and texting while driving into account... U.S. highly abuse the drinking... and the texting...

[@sssr98]

British people forget how massive the USA is. My state, which is a pretty average sized state, is about as large as your whole country. Our roads cover huge distances that people try to speed through, and our people are more aggressive in general and especially behind the wheel. Also, almost no one drives a standard anymore. The advantages of Briton over the US in car wrecks are similar to the advantages that Briton holds in education. The culture is just more careful overall and puts more emphasis on the slow but steady method that leads to academic success.

[@brianmulhair3478]

You should see Texas if you think it's bad where you are. I'm from Illinois, where driving is decent. I recently moved south and it's like they just give a license to anyone. Nobody uses turn signals, most speed rediculously and people, in general, drive stupidly. I was on the highway once and this lady just stops in the middle of the road. WTF?! It's these things that cause accidents. Not the side we drive on.

[@HitodamaKyrie]

Brian Mulhair My experience suggests that people who are not from your hometown always drive more poorly. I suspect there may be a common factor in that though. Also, you say Illinois, but that's a big area. Do you mean southern rural Illinois? Northern urban Illinois? Both?

[@brianmulhair3478]

I'm from Chicago. I realize I made a rather general statement

[@toomuch290]

sssr98 if your referring to the stats at the end of the video, that takes into account the population differences between the two countries. so the argument of size/population means nothing (exception for maybe the factor of how long each driver spends on the road perhaps? fatigue/time on round increases chance of human error)

[@AAARREUUUGHHHH]

sssr98 This is the silliest thing I've ever read. Also, Australia is bigger than the USA.

[@keenanberg6169]

"Driving on the right only spread through Napoleonic conquest!!" ..."India, South Africa, Australia and Cyprus drive on the left side afterall" Lmao Lloyd I love you but sometimes I don't think you even think about what comes out of your mouth.

[@lieutenantkettch]

I live in a country where people drive on the right side of the road, and I use a stick shift. I tried driving a right hand drive car in Malaysia once. I couldn't get the hang of using my left hand to shift. Using your dominant hand to steer is irrelevant, as steering is best accomplished anyway with both hands on the wheel. It's better to use your dominant hand to hunt for the gearshift since you need to keep your eyes on the road at all times.

[@deangoldenstar7997]

I feel it's unfair to pull the americans into a comparison about anything relating to deaths or damage, especially when compared to a European nation.

[@Rezail_Uhhh]

No, I won't drive on the left.

[@PaintKyZR]

You will...

[@JonatasMonte]

He wont!

[@PaintKyZR]

You'll drive on the left, and you'll LIKE it. Or no dessert.

[@Rezail_Uhhh]

Never!!

[@shaneschannel9289]

What you call cars we call go-carts and give them to our kids at 8 years old. We are hurtling down the road at 75 mph in half ton vehicles through single states that are larger than England surrounded by people with no proper training. Think maybe those are bigger factors?

[@AudieHolland]

Actually, the highways in most countries have the lowest accident rate in comparison with the chaos and bloodlust of the cities. On any highway, most cars travel at a rather high speed but they all travel at more or less the same speed in the same direction and there are no traffic lights, no same-level crossings, etc. In the cities, traffic is coming from left, right, front *and* back. Speed differences are very high because a car that is waiting for the traffic light is going 0 km/h while a car with a driver in a hurry, may be speeding a bit and go 60 or even 70 km/h. Now the speed limit in cities is 50 km/h. It was calculated by the wise men who research these things, that an 'impact velocity' of 50 km/h is enough to kill you, even with safety belts etc. Of course, most drivers who realize they are going to crash, will brake frantically so their final impact velocity is less than 50 km/h. But what do you think will happen if someone in a hurry runs a red traffic light then collides into the left side (driver's side in Europe) of another car? He's a goner (the driver of the car that was hit). The German Autobahn, where drivers may drive as fast as they can on most sections, actually has much lower casualty rate than the American highways. Maybe because in the US of A, you are not allowed to change lanes, you're not allowed to drive faster than 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) and other restrictions. So drivers tend to become bored and try to use the phone while driving, drinking, looking for stuff in the glove compartment, etc. etc. In Germany, drivers may on average drive at a speeds of 80 - 100 miles per hour but if they really want to speed (which they are allowed to), they may go as fast as 130 miles per hour or even faster. But there are important safety rules: fast traffic drives on the left lane, 'slow' traffic (doing about 75 miles per hour) must remain on the rightmost lane. Also, fast traffic have the responsibility to spot slower traffic up ahead so when they see other cars in the distance, they will decelerate a bit untill they see the left lane is free so they can roar past. In Holland, we are only allowed to do 80 miles per hour on our highways (130 km/h).

[@shaneschannel9289]

mm

[@AudieHolland]

shanes channel In a nutshell: we drive faster on average here on the continent. 75 mph is about the speed limit on Dutch highways while in Germany they have no speed limit on most parts of the Autobahn. And the accident rate in Germany is much lower than in the States.

[@shaneschannel9289]

I am actually related to a German woman and from speaking to her am sure that many of the differences are laws and training. People here drive like morons. Add in the factors I already mentioned and see how you do on our roads. These fools will kill you. I could drive the Autobahn in my sleep. These countries you mention are the size of states here. Drive across this country. BTW the right side of the road is still right. Hence right!

[@MrEvanfriend]

AudieHolland You're allowed to change lanes on American highways...

[@SolisTheSun]

As a Left-Handed, Stick-shift driving, Left-Eye dominate driver in the United States. I feel that the vehicle was build around me.

[@aussiebloke609]

I learned to drive in Australia, but moved to the US only a few years later (and I've driven professionally in the US for 25 years now)...so I've seen this story from both sides. And I have found the same thing: the right hand, being dominant, is so much better fine motor control as well as outright strength, so ideal for steering - and the left is still quite capable of handling a gearshift (or driving with an automatic transmission and holding a cup of coffee, if one is a bit of a troglodite.) And after all these years, it _still_ feels easier and more intuitive to steer with my right hand and shift with my left.

[@mediocredude2264]

I think you may be interested in how right side driving originated in the United States. it had to do with carriage drivers wanting to both be near the center of the road (to see oncoming traffic) and drive the oxen with their right hand (their dominant one).

[@JimFortune]

Awesome Dude Ox drawn carriages?

[@mediocredude2264]

Jim Fortune i just named a random animal, it could be horses aswell

[@joekennedy4093]

Almost every new car has an automatic gearshift. That's in America at least.

[@Sakkura1]

+Joe Kennedy Most cars in the world have manual gearshift.

[@joekennedy4093]

Like I said, in America only 6.5% of new cars sold are manual. I don't know the global percentages though.

[@WhereWeRoll]

+Joe Kennedy Of all the time I spent in France and the UK I saw maybe 3 automatics. And one of them was owned by a French woman with only one arm so.

[@alisilcox6036]

+Joe Kennedy The only automatics I've ever been in belonged to my grandmother, and a day trip driving school for twelve year olds. I fully admit that the side of the road someone drives on doesn't matter, and eventually "stick-shifts" will be pointless, but currently I'm surprised Americans aren't more embarrassed they all drive automatics. From what I can see decent driving requires the control given by a manual gearbox.

[@joekennedy4093]

How on earth does automatic make decent driving impossible? It's just a cultural thing. For some reason most Americans have accepted automatic as normal and manual as the unusual one. I don't really know why.

[@frozeneternity93]

South Africa has a terrible road safety rate and we drive on the left. Well we are meant to. The local mini bus taxis drive wherever the hell they want and that is one of the main problems here

[@Rose_Harmonic]

visited turkey a few times. I imagine the sheer insanity might be similar. I returned to the US and each time I look around and decide that there is just about no traffic because less than 99% of the road has a vehicle on it. Actually felt extremely safe here in comparison.

[@RMAGGR]

The argument was that driving on the left may improve reaction times by a fraction of a second, not that it would magically bring order to the chaotic roads of a developing nation. Fatalities are also particularly high in SA due to the higher speed of traffic flow compared to other developing nations, and the high number of pedestrian fatalities caused by poor road safety education.

[@Vot63]

In ye olden days when two people approached each other on the road they moved to their left, so that their weapon hand was ready to defend themselves against attack. In Britain most commercial haulage was conducted by water. On the continent most commercial haulage was conducted on land by wagon. A wagon master would sit on the left side so that his right, whip hand, was in the middle of the ox team. This enabled the wagon master to reach the left lead ox, and the right lead ox with equal ease. When two wagons passed, they passed on the driver's side, the right side of the road, because this meant that the wagon driver was on the closest side of the wagon to the passing traffic. This avoided collisions and entanglements with other wagons.

[@2adamast]

In ye olden days armies crossed on the right as they searched the cover of their shields

[@Vot63]

Adamast History is full of armies "passing each other". Let's find the enemy and then walk past them looking at their shields.

[@gmodrules123456789]

Why not just center the whole thing?

[@M3rsh]

+RacknPinion Your gear lever still has to go on one side.

[@gmodrules123456789]

M3rsh Perhaps you could offset the gearbox to one side? Or maybe you could keep the gearbox centered, and instead of having a mechanical stick, you could have an automatic gear shifting system.

[@0nkelD0kt0r]

+RacknPinion Have you ever driven a car with the steering wheel in the center? take any given speed you drive at and add 50 kph to that and you can imagine how it feels. I mean that seriously, it feels much faster that way than sitting offset to the side, it is scary as hell if you are actually going fast.

[@aleistergein114]

+RacknPinion They make those. They're called "motorcycles."

[@badlandskid]

Put the stick between your legs. That way you can be all centered and rack your nuts every time you get in and out. Maybe even sit down on it a time or two. Yeah, great idea, clambering passed everything to get in the drivers seat.

[@milanmilacic9311]

When I was young I was very disappointed that the steering wheel was on the left side, and then I was so happy when I was told that there are cars with steering wheels on the right side

[@NudeJawn]

I am guessing he does not actually drive very much.

[@badlandskid]

I'm guessing this video is hogwash and poppycock.

[@wormswithteeth]

Nude Jawn I'm guessing you drive on the right?

[@frojoe2004]

BS, shifting, adjusting the radio/GPS, etc. requires more dexterity and coordination in a manual vehicle than turning a wheel. Really, when operating a weapon, what hand does the dexterous work and what hand guides the direction of the weapon? Steering is by far the simplest task done by hands while driving. I can't imagine trying to adjust the radio or operate a GPS with my left hand while driving on the highway. It would require far more effort.

[@adamtennant4936]

+Zhong Ping What a ridiculous statement. Let's see, would you rather have your stronger, more dexterous hand controlling the thing that might get you (and others) killed if you get it wrong or the thing that might play the wrong song if you get it wrong? Superb logic. I'd be happy about the fact that people who "think" like you are dying off due to natural selection but the problem is that you'll be taking other people with you when you die in your car. Oh, and your weapon analogy doesn't work either. Both hands are used to aim weapons that require two hands. (as it should be with a car as well)

[@steve24822]

Yes, because operating the radio and GPS is soooo important. Steering g the car pfff, overrated.

[@frojoe2004]

I have never had any trouble steering a wheel with my left hand. Turning a fricking wheel doesn't take any dexterity. Pushing buttons does. The amount of extra attention it would take to use my left hand to adjust controls on the dash would be far more dangerous. I mean really. do you guys seriously have difficulty using a steering wheel with your left hand? Really? I have, though, had difficulty adjusting small precise controls with my left hand, but a steering wheel is neither small, nor needs precise adjustments.I mean honestly. You guys really have a hard time holding a steering wheel left handed? I'm just..... I'm speechless.... My god, that is terrifying.

[@adamtennant4936]

Zhong Ping Perhaps you should actually read what people type. That might help. Nobody said they have a hard time steering left handed. That's just some bullshit you made up. And the terrifying thing is that you place priority on fiddling with controls on the dash instead of driving. Which you shouldn't be doing while you're driving in the first place.

[@frojoe2004]

So now we should pull over to the side of the road to turn down the radio, or change stations, or pick up my drink to take a sip. I see. Somehow people are incapable of operating a radio while driving. Come on now. I could understand if you were forced to drink with your left hand, or adjust the radio with your left hand. But you can do this with almost no effort with your right hand, and the left hand can hold the wheel just fine. The idea that you can't operate a wheel left handed just as well as right is completely false, and the idea that no one should be using their car stereo while driving is just silly. Do you have any arguments that don't make you seem like an incompetent driver?

[@skyflier8955]

As a leftie, I can ignore your entire argument.

[@taloob493]

Same

[@Foxer604]

Britian has fewer fatal accidents NOT because of left side driving, but rather because a) your traffic is so congested that nobody ever gets above 30 km per hour so they're all low impact, and b) the cars you seem to favour are basically pretentiously ambitious go-karts that bounce :) Also - your statistics include motorcycles which have no left or right, so how do you explain the discrepancy there?

[@Foxer604]

You might be throwing that word "think" around a little freely there big guy.

[@Foxer604]

Well perhaps a little more thought next time might help :) It was mostly intended as a friendly jab at British traffic conditions and the smaller cars preferred in England, not so much as a serious attempt to address the topic. (except perhaps the bit about motorcycles). And i'm not actually American, or living in America.

[@Foxer604]

I'm sure you do, the comment wasn't a serious discussion about the merits of one system or another, it was a gentle and friendly jab at Britain. As to motorcycles - think about it. If they are experiencing similar lower traffic incidents and don't HAVE a 'left or right' side, then it would suggest that traffic incidents might well be less dependent on the side you drive on and more dependent on other factors not discussed in this video. And if you insist on taking a simple joke seriously, there are OTHER indicators as well that factors other than what side you drive on play a large role. Canada has half the vehicle death rate that America has, yet both drive on the same side. Obviously there's a lot of other more important factors in accident rates. For example - how many ice storms do you get in Australia? Are your roads covered in snow a quarter of the year? America is considerably larger than britian - do you think maybe they spend more time on the roads? What's the drinking and driving rates in each country? etc etc. I've met an aweful lot of auzzies, this is a popular destination. I've got to say - most have a slightly more developed sense of humour. Again - the initial post was intended to be playful, not a serious rebuttal.

[@Foxer604]

The post was not meant to be the funniest thing you'd read. It was however funny - you perhaps are not. Had you a better developed or wider reaching sense of humour you would have seen it for what it was. And the motorbike thing is pretty simple. Lindy proposes that accidents are lower in part because you are less likely to get into an accident if you drive on the right hand side of the vehicle rather than the left. However - the accident rate appears to apply to motorcycle accidents as well - where there IS no difference because there is no left or right - suggesting that it's not the side of the vehicle that you drive on which makes any difference. If you are still struggling with the concept after that explanation, we're just going to have to accept that it's a little beyond you and push on. And I think if you'll watch the video again you'll note that it is indeed his premise that the disadvantages of driving on the right of the road and left of the car is indeed the primary factor in why the accident rate is different. Otherwise, why mention it's different at all. As to my spelling - some of these replies are made from a mobile device (small screen, small keys etc) and given how amazingly difficult and time consuming it has been to explain what is in fact a very simple concept to you I simply had no time left over for proofreading. It was my hope that you'd be able to muster enough cognitive power to work through any mistakes and figure it out on your own. Sadly - it seems to have tripped you up a bit anyway. I'll try to check spelling a little more carefully moving forward so as not to add to your burden. And if i may say - reviewing your comments it's not the social acceptability of stupidity in America which jumps out at me. Wishing you the best in your future endeavors, Foxer604.

[@jessestoner5353]

There’s countries that drive on the left, and there’s countries that’ve been to the moon.

[@peterblezard8967]

Put there by a Nazi war criminal of European descent.

[@sykomcawesomeness]

There are several things to consider that make compariing the traffic accidents of the US with Britain stupid, the main and dominate one being that in the US, the majority of the population drives everyday, everywhere they go, for 10's, sometimes 100's of miles. This *is not* a thing in Britain in the same way. There are not 100's upon 100's of thousands of people driving 70+ MPH to get *everywhere* they go in Britain, while in America, that's a thing. That's going to skew the hell out of the stats. Americans, for the vast majority, don't "pop down" to the store to pick up a loaf of bread on foot. That, however, *is* a thing in Britain. Americans have to get in a car, and drive, sometimes for 10's of miles, to get a store, and their work, and their schools, to their families and friends, and then back home, everyday, day in and day out. I used to drive for 1 1/2 hours each day on a major highway to get to my daily job, or about 100km there, and then 100km back. This is common.This large difference in social behavior in general is going to make one hell of a difference in accident totals.

[@sykomcawesomeness]

Well, considering I've never caused a wreck or anything, have a clean driving record, and have been driving longer than you've been on this planet.. I doubt that very much. But whatever makes you sleep better. ^^

[@sykomcawesomeness]

wow. Okay, so that's your best effort at trolling. Hmm.. aiite. Well, in that case, you work on it, and get back to me when you've got it down better. GL =]

[@SirCharcoal]

The statistics per million vehicle miles, so that is actually counter to your argument. America has a lot of very big and very straight roads, with people travelling larger distances, surely a million miles of that is less likely to cause accidents than a million miles of twisty british roads, roundabouts, rusty drivers popping down to shops etc.

[@sykomcawesomeness]

Actually, no, it proves my argument. Lindybeige's stats are based on the *number of vehicle miles*, not the speed of those vehicles during those miles, or the population density of the areas. In places like Houston, LA, New York, Dallas, etc, people are driving *immensely* faster, merging into traffic from entrance ramps at 70 MPH, going around cloverleafs, (or spaghetti junctions, if you perfer), switching lanes, and all this is happening at 55-95 MPH in most places, depending on the area. People drive faster in the states, for longer distances, and not just once in a while, but everyday. That's going to create a huge discrepancy in the amount of accidents *per million vehicle miles*. The amount of trips per day, the distance traveled per trip, the congestion of traffic during those trips, and the speed at which that driver and all other drivers on the road are traveling isn't factored into the stats presented. Those factors make a huge difference when talking about this particular subject though. It's the same reason you can't compare one country's stats, such as the US, to anothers, such as China, and just look at the raw data. It doesn't work. Congestion, the fact that more people are on motorcycles, number of pedestrians in the road, etc, make the situation different for China than in the US. It's not as simple as just "accidents per million vehicle miles". That's oversimplifying the situation and leaving out a ton of pertinent data. They're not compariable in that way. It's like talking about the so-called "wage gap" and leaving out personal choices like children, career path, and hours worked.

[@SirCharcoal]

+SyKo McAwesomeness Traveling on freeways/motorways are safer. If you're traveling at 60mph on the freeway for an hour, it's the equivalent of traveling 30mph for two hours. Most accidents happen at junctions and traffic lights, on the freeway/motorway there's the less accidents as all you need to worry about is merging and overtaking, it's much simpler and the relative speed between you and other cars is small. Also population density is literally 8 times greater in the UK. You sound like you're making up excuses for America's road deaths. It's not as bad as Lindy states, it's actually 7.1 deaths per billion km vs the UK's 3.6, the reason is likely looser driving tests and regulation. Also driving is pretty expensive for younger people on the UK, insurance is often more than your first car! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

[@JohnsonLobster]

You're just mad because Napoléon.

[@beewyka819]

Although you make good points, notice how a lot of the countries you named were past British colonies

[@Fellin.]

what you mean most of the world

[@beewyka819]

fiemalin hruma Most of the world drives on the right

[@Fellin.]

***** what you said was that all the ones he used for his point were past british colonies. i was simply pointing out that what you said is invalid because most of the world is that

[@beewyka819]

fiemalin hruma No, not true, a good chunk, but not most

[@beewyka819]

fiemalin hruma Also (sorry to respond after so long) I never said he listed ALL the british colonies, I just said a lot of the ones he listed were british colonies

[@jacobstaten2366]

In the US, we supposedly started on the right because you could keep a pistol in your right hand while passing a stranger on the road.

[@petrmaly9087]

OK, I get the argument about dominant arm and eye (although it is not my case), but the rest is a lie. Just EU - 1) per 1000 people in total population - safest is not UK, but Sweden. 2) per cars (motor vehicles, to be exact), Finland. 3) By miles - Sweden again. Although UK is close to the best, it is not the best. Not even in the EU. If you count just the EU (as I did), or if you look at some other similar countries as well (Switzerland, Norway, little countries like San marino and Monaco - where it is mostly heavy traffic), you can see that UK does OK by having stable position in a group of rich countries. Nothing exceptional, nothing bad. Why? Easy. Passenger safety is mostly the matter of the age of the most used car in the family. It is the one that is used the most by several people at once. In Britain, poor family can easily own large SUV, about 5-10 years old, or brand new Logan or Polo. Same in Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia (well Denmark with its 180% tax...)... And compare this to Poland, Hungary, or even Bulgaria, where the cost of such a car is equivalent to 1- 2 years of family income for just the purchase price. Thus these people own some 20 - 40 years old cars as the only family car, with usually no deformation zones and some even without seatbelts. In a village of 600 people, where I spend my holidays these days (my partner's family lives there) there are more than 10 families with car about 40 years old and no other, just because they can not afford anything better. And the country is richer than Poland or Hungary.

[@xXBisquitsXx]

he said compared to other "like" countries with simular populations. he listed France, Italy, Germany and Spain i think.

[@petrmaly9087]

xXBisquitsXx OK, than Britain is the best of 5 selected countries, the best in the world, if you ignore the existence of some others...

[@undac9590]

Well, I would argue with the second part of the second paragraph. I live in Romania (comparable to Bulgaria) and while indeed (the_price_of_a_new_car / medium_wage) is very high, people don't own 20-40 years old cars - and those that do live in villages and don't use them on big roads with frequent accidents. Most of the cars I see in my town are post-2005 and people either lease them, or buy second hand cars (average wage per person is about 450euro; the price of a 2008 Kia Cee'd is about 4.000euro).

[@petrmaly9087]

Undac I took as an example a village/town where family of my (than girlfriend, now) wife lives. Many Wartburgs and Skodas from the seventies on the roads. And to the average wage - how many people actually get this amount of money? How many are below the average? How many people are on the minimum wage, or close to it? It is below 200 euro monthly in Bulgaria, 220 euro monthly in Romania.

[@undac9590]

Petr Maly I can't tell you about other regions, but in my town (Iași), according to a local newspaper, the average net salary at Carrefour is 1500ron (336euro) + meal tickets. The starting gross salary is 1250ron (net is probably around 200euro)+ 197ron (44euro) in meal tickets. For an web developer, the starting gross is 300euro and the senior gross is about 750euro (I heard that at other companies it can go as high as 1000euro, or as low as 600). This should give you an idea. I could take some pictures, but it's faster and less biased to just take a look in Google maps street view.

[@ohauss]

Lloyd, don't you think it's a bit disingeneous to attribute the fact that most of Europe drives on the right hand side to conquest and ignore that Malaysia, India, Australia and South Africa did not precisely get the system through heavenly enlightenment? And, sorry, the "right eyed" argument doesn't fly. For properly judging the oncoming traffic, you need both eyes either way. Prefering one eye is suboptimal regardless of where you sit. Alas, in consequence, your reaction time argument crumbles as well. As for roads in the UK being safer - not only are there way too many confounders in that notion - such as average trip length and population distribution - I have to wonder if the differences you cite are actually statistically significant when actually comparing comparable nations. Comparing the UK with the US is, sorry, pretty awkward. Legal driving age in the US is often lower than in the UK, leading to a host of younger drivers you'd never see on British roads. On the other hand, people can drink beer or wine in a restaurant in most of the UK from age 16, meaning that by the time they get to drive, they have at least some minimal experience with what alcohol does to their body - and their parents, if they are responsible, can have an eye on things. Compare with the US, where drinking age is 21, right in the time of college and Spring Break. I'm sorry, but you're falling for a basic fallacy - correlation does not imply causation.

[@Liggliluff]

(2:20) 99% of the time, I'm not touching the gear stick. (4:50) What about Ireland? What if you compared to more countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Spain? How does Australia, New Zealand, South Africa fair compared to other countries? (5:25) Just because you drive on the left, and have better statistics, doesn't mean it's _because_ you're driving on the left. You've argued against this kind of argumentation before, but do it yourself when it suits you.

[@bobbyjoe1111]

Can you see my comment? thanks

[@Jessie_Helms]

With stick shifts you have a good point I’ve never heard before. Although it doesn’t always apply to automatics. Still, the right eye makes sense too.

[@Liggliluff]

His stick shift argument doesn't make sense because you're not supposed to drive with your hand on the stick all the time.

[@Yatagurusu]

@@Liggliluff doesn't really matter, the places where accidents happen the most are traffic lights, turnings and roundabouts, places where your dominant hand has a high chance of being occupied

[@Tysto]

I don't know what I expected. I guess I should've expected the usual British "we do things the right way" BS. No matter. Cars will drive themselves soon. I look forward to your video on how Britain's two-fingered "up yours" gesture is superior to everyone else's "up yours" gesture.

[@femsplainer]

+Tysto That's easy, it uses two fingers, so it's twice as insulting. Also the arm swing is typically twice the distance of the US version, so that's another factor of 2. So by the logic that is present in this particular video, that would put the two finger salute at 22 times as superior to the one finger salute and also it causes less fatalities...because reasons.

[@KingOhmni]

Is now a good time to mention Winston Churchill? (le two years later)

[@UKMonkey]

It's funny, when told "we do things the right way" and then provide evidence and statistics to demonstrate it, you still can't accept it and react by trying to insult people.... I wonder if this explains the homicide rate in the US?

[@maxryder9321]

Left means clockwise around roundabouts, which is the intuitive ‘forward’ motion around a circle

[@bobbytables464]

I highly doubt there's any causal relationship between road safety and which side you drive on. Neither side is likely to be objectively better, and no major country is ever going to change it. The only objective fact is that left-side drivers tend to pay more for cars that are converted to right-side steering because of economies of scale. But since it's highly likely that all cars will be self-driving in a few decades and won't have steering wheels at all, at least that part is going away.

[@femsplainer]

+Sam M. I would imagine that most self-driving vehicles will still have wheels for manual override in case of systems failure and for those who don't want to trust a hackable computer with their life.

[@bobbytables464]

Femsplainer I actually doubt it. If the rest of traffic is also self-driving, letting a human driver operate a car (even in an emergency) is lunacy - there'd be no traffic lights and speeds/distance wouldn't be calibrated for human reaction times. Far better to just have it come to a halt and let the passengers request another vehicle picks them up. Those who don't want to trust a hackable computer with their life will have to find other ways of traveling because human driving on public roads will undoubtedly be illegal in the future.

[@femsplainer]

Sam M. There's so many things wrong with your assertions. You obviously aren't an engineer of any sort and probably watched SciFi shows like Minority Report a few too many times thinking that that is what future traffic would look like. "If the rest of traffic is also self-driving, letting a human driver operate a car (even in an emergency) is lunacy - there'd be no traffic lights and speeds/distance wouldn't be calibrated for human reaction times. " So, in perceived future world, whenever there is a critical malfunction in one car, all the other cars will simply crash into you then? Even the current self driving cars have automatic distance detection and the ability to react to changing circumstances. Ergo, someone going to manual in an emergency wouldn't suddenly cause all the cars around you to stop reacting to you as a physical object. Ergo, going manual would not cause a problem at all in a well designed system. After all, the system would need to be able to deal with foreign objects in the road as well as other cars for a number of reasons (fallen rocks/trees, accidents, animal crossing, etc.) In other words, not all cars need to be self driving to ensure safety and efficiency. Critical failures can happen for a multitude of reasons and on multiple systems (acceleration, navigation, distance detection and so on) and you would need proper fail safes to ensure that should one car mess up it's distance calculations that it doesn't cause a wreck. Most planes nowadays are fly by wire (automatic), but they still maintain manual override for emergencies, because if the computer fails and there is no one else at the wheel, then you're fucked. As for distances between vehicles, there is a thing called a Safety Factor (SF) in engineering which is built into the design to prevent catastrophic failures (or at least drastically reduce their occurrence). Essentially, you multiply the minimum safe operating parameters by a factor of usually around 7-10 (the higher the safer) and build your design to satisfy this value. For example, say you are making a lamp that is hung on a chain and the lamp itself weighs 1 Kilo. You would want to put the lamp on a chain that could support: 1 Kilo x 7 = 7 Kilos If you put the lamp on a chain that can support exactly 1 Kilo (plus the weight of the chain), then your lamp will be incredibly unsafe and the moment you pull on the pull string switch, the chain will break and the lamp will fall. With the 7 Kilo chain, this is not a problem, and it is likely that the lamp will never fall when used properly. Translate this to automated vehicles and you would have various SFs for sudden changes in road conditions such as: wind gusts, black ice, road obstructions, pot holes, and many other conditions, including when another car goes silent or otherwise has a catastrophic systems failure. Without these SFs it would not be safe to drive an automated vehicle because it would not be able to react to changing circumstances. A side effect of such systems is that it would easily allow a manual override and wouldn't cause any problems whatsoever. That is what you call a robust system. What you described would be called a weak system that could fail for the slightest of reasons, which by definition is not safe. In other words, future cars will never be driving as close together (let alone interweaving at intersections) in the same way as they do in Minority Report, because it leaves absolutely no room for failure, a sudden heavy gust would cause all of those cars to crash into each other and it would not be pretty. As for the traffic speeds, stop lights, etc. there would probably be a fail safe system that uses GPS to project a HUD onto the windshield of the car with all relevant information. If that breaks, then you could probably have an app on your future phone that would display speeds and upcoming traffic lights, etc. "Those who don't want to trust a hackable computer with their life will have to find other ways of traveling because human driving on public roads will undoubtedly be illegal in the future." How very authoritarian of you. This is a baseless assertion. Hacking cars is a very real concern and having a way to override a hacker would need to be in place for occupant safety. Beyond this, most people (especially in the US) don't like giving up freedoms and one of the most iconic freedoms is that of the open road, heading down a path of your choosing with no one telling you what to do. You're about as likely to take away all manual cars and motorcycles as you are to take away guns, alcohol and tobacco. Good luck with that.

[@bobbytables464]

Femsplainer To begin with, your combative tone was completely uncalled for. "So, in perceived future world, whenever there is a critical malfunction in one car, all the other cars will simply crash into you then?" Of course not, it will become a predictably behaving static object that they will avoid. What malfunction are you even imagining here where the car can't self-drive but is otherwise operable? Most people will never even learn to drive, as they will be passengers, not drivers. "In other words, future cars will never be driving as close together (let alone interweaving at intersections) in the same way as they do in Minority Report, because it leaves absolutely no room for failure, a sudden heavy gust would cause all of those cars to crash into each other and it would not be pretty. " Absolutely every situation you've described will be handled orders of magnitude better by a computer than a human driver. I am not talking about Minority Report, simply the fact that a self-driving fleet will not require signal lights at intersections and will behave very differently from human-driven cars. Human reaction speed causes congestion - a row of 100 self-driving cars can start accelerating synchronously. "How very authoritarian of you." I'm not advocating this policy, I'm foreseeing it. "Hacking cars is a very real concern and having a way to override a hacker would need to be in place for occupant safety." No, hacking cars is not a real concern. It's an absurd concern - especially compared to the extreme ease of "hacking" a human being by coercion. And cars will not be fully autonomous but they will almost certainly relinquish control to a central traffic direction system in charge of the entire area. "Beyond this, most people (especially in the US) don't like giving up freedoms and one of the most iconic freedoms is that of the open road, heading down a path of your choosing with no one telling you what to do." Cities can and do ban types of vehicles from entering them. You may well be able to drive your vintage Corvette Stingray down a country road, but no one will let you onto Manhattan Island or London. Within a generation, the vast majority of people will be *unable* to drive a car, just like they're unable to ride a horse, that other symbol of American frontier spirit and freedom. It will become a niche hobby that has no place in metropolitan traffic systems. "You're about as likely to take away all manual cars and motorcycles as you are to take away guns, alcohol and tobacco." You don't need to take them away. Most of them will just break down after a while anyway, and the ones that remain and the minority that will still be made will just be banned from high traffic areas just like we already ban 18-wheelers and Amish buggies from downtown traffic.

[@femsplainer]

+Sam M. Not sure how you can read 'tone' into a post, but ok. I'm sorry you read it as combative, I was just pointing out the many flaws in your argument. "Of course not, it will become a predictably behaving static object that they will avoid. " I don't think you understand the breadth of possible malfunctions that can occur. Yes, a complete stop of all functionality could occur, but so could a miscalculation of distance between your car and other cars due to an obstruction or failure of a sensor. There is no way to ensure that a failure will cause the car to behave in a predictable manner because by definition it is misbehaving as a result of the error. "What malfunction are you even imagining here where the car can't self-drive but is otherwise operable?" Failure to read distances between cars because of a malfunctioning sensor. Failure to read road markers properly. Loss of GPS for route determination. The car drifting out of lane for any number of reasons. There are many errors that would be critical errors to the automatic navigation of a vehicle that would not necessarily cause a total failure of the ability to function under manual operation. "Most people will never even learn to drive, as they will be passengers, not drivers." Baseless assertion. Pilots don't do much at all for flying planes anymore as it is mostly fly by wire, but they are still completely trained to fly the plane manually and must pass regular tests to keep their license. "Absolutely every situation you've described will be handled orders of magnitude better by a computer than a human driver." Only if the computer is functioning. If the computer has been hacked or is otherwise malfunctioning, then the car potentially behave orders of magnitude worse than a human driver. "...simply the fact that a self-driving fleet will not require signal lights at intersections and will behave very differently from human-driven cars." Indeed a lot of physical infrastructure would disappear in an automated car world. However, the physical infrastructure would be replaced with a digital mapping of the pertinent information that the car would receive remotely. This information could still be tapped and displayed by other fail safe devices to create a usable interface for manual drivers. "Human reaction speed causes congestion - a row of 100 self-driving cars can start accelerating synchronously." I'm not contesting this, I am merely stating that a malfunctioning unit will still cause problems either way and a partially functioning unit would not have a huge impact on a robust system. "I'm not advocating this policy, I'm foreseeing it." You are projecting into the future a very authoritarian stance on how the world would be and that this would be a better system than the current one (at least it's implied). This does not necessarily mean that you are being an authority, but that you have an authoritarian view of it, which is what I basically said. "No, hacking cars is not a real concern. It's an absurd concern - especially compared to the extreme ease of "hacking" a human being by coercion. And cars will not be fully autonomous but they will almost certainly relinquish control to a central traffic direction system in charge of the entire area." Seriously? You don't think that hacking is a concern with the cars? It already is a concern that is one that Google is wrestling with constantly right now (citation below). This would be further compounded by your proposed centralized traffic controller system, as it creates a single point of failure for countless cars. Terrorists who could gain access to such a system would be able to simultaneously crash all cars on the road whatever geographic area you believe that it would cover. This creates a massively huge concern for public safety. No, it would be far safer to make each car fully autonomous and use crowd sensing than to use a centralized controller, which is what all current designs are using. www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2015/May/Pages/ResearchersHackIntoDriverlessCarSystemTakeControlofVehicle.aspx "Cities can and do ban types of vehicles from entering them. You may well be able to drive your vintage Corvette Stingray down a country road, but no one will let you onto Manhattan Island or London." Now you are simply moving the goal posts, you went from no manual vehicles anywhere to some manual vehicle some places, which is a huge shift. I'm not really a car person, but I believe that the bans for cars is more to do with their polluting factors than their bodies or control schemes (I'm pretty sure manual transmission is allowed everywhere still). Just because it is possible to outlaw all vehicles, does not mean that it would happen is my point. Most people don't drive standard transmission anymore (my civic is standard and I love it) but that doesn't mean that it is made illegal or that it has any noticeable impact on traffic. "Within a generation, the vast majority of people will be unable to drive a car, just like they're unable to ride a horse, that other symbol of American frontier spirit and freedom. It will become a niche hobby that has no place in metropolitan traffic systems." I don't think that fully autonomous cars will ever completely replace regular ones, let alone in a single generation. Yes, horses are more uncommon now for numerous reasons, but it is still legal to ride horses down a street (even if only on the side) and some police are still mounted in certain areas due to the unique mobility of a horse vs a car. "You don't need to take them away. Most of them will just break down after a while anyway, and the ones that remain and the minority that will still be made will just be banned from high traffic areas just like we already ban 18-wheelers and Amish buggies from downtown traffic." The difference between banning large and slow vehicles is not for reasons of safety, but of convenience and efficiency. Removing the manual override would force you to tow every car that encounters even a minor malfunction, which is highly inefficient and inconvenient and would clog traffic far worse than allowing a switch to manual. These are my simply my thoughts as a software engineer who works closely with fabricators (physical engineers) and robotics experts. I am not trying to insult you or have a 'combative tone', just a spirited debate on the issue.

[@ShaddySoldier]

so what yoy are saying is it's all France's fault

[@kylenetherwood8734]

ShaddySoldier That's a general rule for things that are bad.

[@JudithKiwi10]

Yes - because Napolean was left handed and so had his weapon on the wrong side.

[@Liggliluff]

Like the metric system. Lloyd is smart, but he can also be stupid.

[@taloob493]

@@Liggliluff yeah, 9/10 Lloyd videos are really good, informative, and well put together, but 1/10 are this one or the whole "spandau" buisness

[@vashtanarada3294]

Well, riddle me this: Deaths per 1 billion vehicle-km in Japan (Left) = 8, Sweden (Right) = 3.5. There are a lot more to factor in here, such as speed limits, mandatory technical inspections, traffic density and so on. Since almost all of your arguments are made to defend a system that is already in place, they had nothing to do with why it was put in place. There is however, a reason for it which goes way back and should be right up your alley. So, I demand a video about it.

[@skellious]

I'm a left handed English person and I've never understood the arguments about driving and handedness. It makes no difference to driving

[@TheOldBearTime]

When Sweden changed from the left to the right side the where a lot less accidents.

[@codpyry]

For a little while, and it was because everyone was driving so carefully because of the weird new system

[@asparadog]

The Scandinavians are very good drivers anyway, from what I have seen while being there.

[@swevixeh]

To be honest, prior to the change we were driving right-hand ("American style") traffic vehicles on left-hand ("UK style") traffic roads, so it was hard for drivers to estimate the distance to the opposite lane. Hence the reduction in traffic accidents once we shifted to driving on the right.

[@jimmoroney7529]

My wife and I lived in the UK for a couple of years in the 90's and then moved back to the US. Because we were in the UK for over a year, we had to pass the test for British driving licenses (or licences). I am convinced that very few Americans could pass the British test and I also noticed that in the UK, you have to be retested at 70. The Brits drive little death-traps for cars at very high speeds yet have fewer accidents. I hate to say it, but British drivers are simply better at driving than Americans. The UK also is more rigorous in going after drunk drivers than in most other countries. Few Brits continue driving past 70 when their licenses expire but here in the US, we have drivers in their 80's and 90's who really should switch to using Uber.

[@yeoldegunporn]

The difference is, the UK does not contain Texas.

[@darkblood626]

Bow before us ambidextrous masters of the road.

[@darkblood626]

***** Must have been hard to read something you pulled out of your ass, hope you wiped it off first. ;)

[@daveboy2000]

***** The reason is that both halves of the brain are sort of 'fighting' for dominance, leaving less processing capacity for things like academics.

[@designate_om]

As somebody lives in Los Angeles and grew up traveling to Japan quite a bit, this video neatly explains a lot of very strong feelings which I've never really been able to fully articulate in regards to my anxieties about driving in a dense car-centric city with backwards cars. I suppose they were things I observed before fully educating myself in the actual physics/engineering behind city planning and cars and so forth, so I had a gut feeling with no rhetoric or framework to assuage it. Thank you very much for helping me out here, you have done a great thing for a humbly grateful man

[@alexkfridges]

this is one of your more ridiculous video's, coming from a left side driver

[@Aethgeir]

Although this is something I hadn't considered and Lindybeige makes good points. I think the act of changing from the right to left hand side of the road would probably result in higher instances of traffic accidents for at least a generation of drivers in those countries unused to driving on the left. In short, maybe it is better to drive on the left, but the cost of changing over to that system outweighs the benefits.

[@RJWhitmore]

+Aethgeir Indeed - during the changeover it should be optional. :D

[@ericeinarson6654]

+Aethgeir Not necessarily; there was a fairly successful change over only fairly recently- about 4-5 years ago it was on the news; I can't remember which country it was, but there was an island nation in South-East-Asia that recently made the change from Right to left. The change-over went pretty smoothly, there were of coarse, in the first couple of days, a bit of confusion- but there were no deaths or major accidents, and the country has been driving on the left ever since. The change-over can be made, but its a bit too expensive to do so; for either side. Traffic lights need to be changed, road arrows need to be re-painted and road signs need to be taken down and replaced. In the end, the change could cost billions, for a country like the Unites States to change. Its not really worth it in the end.

[@swunt10]

you have fallen for his ill informed bullshit points about left side driving. driving on the right side is perfectly natural. apart from japan only ex bitish colonies drive on the left. that tells you all you need to know about britain. so don't let yourself get talked into something so easily. his made up bullshit points can be easily dismissed it's not even worth anyones time to watch this video. this guy makes some good videos every once in a while but he also has a track record of made up bullshit and british nationalism.

[@SiriusMined]

I've driven on both sides. I didn't find driving on the left easier or safer. It wasn't hard; I adapted very quickly. I would rather shift right handed.

[@_Xerota_]

Since I'm left handed would I be better off driving in America?

[@kylenetherwood8734]

Xerota Looking at the statistic in the end, no. Lol.

[@SS-kh1ox]

As an Aussie, I love this video and love the 1,000+ dislikes even more. Well said Lindybeige.

[@joshlove007]

So your argument is that moving a steering wheel left and right (the only directions it can go and the only thing it can do) is harder to do with your non-dominate hand than to move a multidirectional gear shift that may have a button and need extra force to operate? Basically the only thing the hand on the steering wheel needs to do while your shifting is hold the steering wheel in one spot. In America we use the superior automatic transmissions (we also dont use telegraphs or black and white tvs anymore either) so the only time we shift is while the car isn't even moving anyways. What about operating the radio, gps, adjusting the rear view mirror, adjusting the heat or ac? Face it having your non-dominate hand hold the steering wheel steady while your dominate hand that is stronger and nimbler operates the gearshift and the intricate radio controls is better.

[@karl0ssus1]

"superior automatic transmission" Oookay. Ignoring that, lets look at this critically, if handedness and road safety were related, there would be an expected difference in the accident stats for left and right handed people on the road (varying depending on whether they drove on the left or wrong side of the road). And it turns out that this doesnt seem to be the case, or at least the studies that try to prove this have been debunked. Apparently muscle memory is a wonderful thing, and the major causes of accidents remain speed, alcohol, and distractions. And anecdotally, auto transmissions make me a lazier (read worse) driver. If that were true for most of the population, a potential reason for the disparate stats is that the Yanks have a larger proportion of auto boxes on the road. Or that their attitudes towards driving are just worse. Probably the latter TBH. TL;DR, I agree that the vid is entirely wrong, but I seriously disagree with your reasons for thinking so.

[@hypoaktivnaovca]

USA is a bad example, since you can almost literally get a driver's licence in a cereal box there.

[@TIREPROD]

Get back in the sex offence registration line