Aging Graciously: Driving, are we doing it right?
I was chatting with someone who had spent a great deal of time in Europe recently, and wondered how they had adjusted to driving on the left-hand side of the road. They had no trouble, but since I have never done it (deliberately) I looked up a few facts on the history.
According to good old Google, some 76 countries use left-hand traffic, a practice believed to have originated in ancient Rome to help defend against enemy attacks. The tradition is believed to date back to when soldiers steered their carts and chariots with the left hand, to free up the right so they could use weapons to defend against enemy attacks. This carried over into medieval Europe, and in 1773, the British government passed measures to make left-hand traffic the law.
However, as the story goes, post-revolution France favored the right because Napoleon was left-handed, and riding on the right proved to be an intimidating military tactic. It has been said that when the French decided to change, they stopped all traffic at midnight and turned to the right ever after. There is a common bridge between England and France that automatically moves traffic from left to right or vice-versa.
In the Us, right-hand traffic goes back to the 18th century. Freight wagons were pulled by teams of horses, and the drivers rode on the left rear horse, using their right hand to more easily control the team. Traffic shifted to the right so drivers could easily avoid collisions. In the early years of English colonization, English driving customs were followed, and the colonies drove on the left. After gaining independence, people were anxious to cast off all remaining links to their past and gradually changed to the right.
According to Gear Patrol, the British, Japanese, Indians and Australians say the steering wheel belongs on the right-hand side of the car and the vehicle on the left-hand side of the road.
In light of the rising amount of traffic and increasing number of accidents around here, I find all this interesting. It appears that some people may have never gotten the message.
The terms left and right do control a seemingly large segment of our lives. Are you left or right brained, creative or logical; eyed, distance or close up visioned; legged, which one do you step forward with ... your strongest; handed, writing, throwing and golfing, or politicked, well we won’t go there. I am satisfied driving on the right side, happily right brained, eyed, legged, handed and again, we won’t go there. I wonder if it all has anything to do with getting out of bed on the right side in the morning.
(Editor's note: If you know of a senior who is unique and deserves a story, please e-mail Lee Elliott at leeadirects@roadrunner.com. Please include contact information so she can share their story with our readers.)
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Aging Graciously: Driving, are we doing it right?
