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driving directions in ireland

Right-hand traffic and left-hand traffic mean regulations requiring all traffic to keep either to the left or the right side of the road. This is so fundamental to traffic flow that it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road. The purpose of this basic rule is to facilitate traffic flow and reduce the risk of head-on collisions. Though originally most traffic drove on the left worldwide, today about 34% of the world's people live in left-traffic countries and 66% in right-traffic countries. About 28% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the left, and 72% on the right.

Terminology

Countries have adopted one of two standards for traffic flows: ie. traffic flows either on the left- or right-side of the road. Countries are said to have left-hand traffic (LHT) or right-hand traffic (RHT).

Vehicles are manufactured in left-hand drive (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) configurations, referring to the placement of the driving seat and controls within the vehicle. Typically, the placement of the steering wheel is opposite to the rule of the road: LHT countries use RHD vehicles, and RHT countries use LHD vehicles. However, there are countries that drive on the left but use mostly LHD vehicles (for example, some Caribbean islands, and Sweden before the change from LHT to RHT in 1967), or that drive on the right but use mostly RHD vehicles. Furthermore, many countries permit both types of vehicles on their roads. Terminological confusion can arise from the misuse of "left-hand drive" or "right-hand drive" to indicate the side of the road along which vehicles are driven.

Road traffic

Uniformity

Signatory countries to the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949) have agreed to a uniform direction of traffic in each country. Article 9(1) provides that:

In the past, there were several countries which had different rules in different parts of the country (eg. Canada until the 1920s). Currently, China is the only exception to this rule, with Hong Kong and Macau driving on the left while the rest of China drives on the right.

Left-hand traffic

When driving on the left:

Countries with left-hand traffic

List of places where traffic keeps left 

Note: Italics indicates year of change to driving on the left.

* Until late 1960s, imported vehicles from USA were fitted with left-hand drive layout

Total: 75 countries

Today, only four European countries continue to drive on the left: Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom. All are island nations, and as such none shares a physical border with a country that drives on the right; all were once part of the British Empire. Some Commonwealth countries and other former British colonies, such as Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and South Africa continue to drive on the left, but others such as Canada, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the United States drive on the right. Other countries and territories which drive on the left are Thailand, Indonesia and East Timor in Southeast Asia, Suriname, Japan, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Macau. Most Pacific countries drive on the left, and South Asian countries, which constitute most of the Indian subcontinent, like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have left-hand traffic.

Right-hand traffic

When driving on the right:

Countries with right-hand traffic

List of places where traffic keeps right 

Note: Italics indicates year of change to driving on the right.

*1758 in Copenhagen, 1793 in the rest of Denmark
**In South Yemen

Total: 164 countries

Changing sides at borders

Certain countries in Africa, Asia, and South America have land borders where drivers must change to the other side of the road.

Where neighboring countries use different traffic rules, drivers from one to the other must change sides at border crossings. Thailand is particularly notable in the context. It drives on the left and is the only sizable country that has 90% (4,357 km or 2,707 miles) of its borders with countries that drive on the right, with only Malaysia driving on the left since Myanmar (Burma) changed from driving on the left to driving on the right in 1970. Other notable borders in this context are between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Laos and Thailand, Sudan and Uganda.

Many borders are formed from natural barriers such as mountains or rivers, and this is particularly true of borders where traffic changes sides of the road, especially in Asia. These natural barriers make the number of border crossings much lower than might otherwise be the case. Furthermore, given their remoteness, most mountain border crossings have relatively low traffic volumes and so changing sides of the road is even less of an issue.

The four most common ways of switching traffic from one side to the other at borders are: