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This was the main safety reason argued when Sweden shifted from left to right. As all cars had the steering wheel on the left (but buses on the right hand side) there were numerous accidents when car drivers tried to overtake other vehicles.

C-H,

There are an ever increasing number of left-hand-drive trucks on the road here as many companies choose to base their fleets in other EU countries where road tax etc is cheaper and also because most of their journies are across european motorways not in the UK and Ireland.

I really think that the "problem" of having a LHD car in Britain (or Eire, NZ etc.) is much overrated. I've had LHD here for years and it just isn't that big a deal.

Sure, there are places where it makes seeing to pass a little more difficult, but you find that in some sitiations (e.g. a sweeping left-hand curve) you can actually see things that you wouldn't in a RHD vehicle. Besides, if you can't see well enough in any car then you shouldn't be trying to pass anyway, right?

Maybe it's just that I don't worry about passing other vehicles all that much. Around here, most of the roads are too narrow and twisty to be able to overtake safely anyway.

You'll see a lot of trucks in this area which are British RHD origin but running on Dutch license plates. Apparently quite a few haulage companies set up offices over there some years ago when they could license a 30+ tonner for about £400 in The Netherlands while the pack of thieves in British government charged nearly £4000!

Many moons ago NZ changed from Imperial to Metric speed limits and we had signs with both speeds written on them (30/50, 70/100,)for a while during the changeover and conversion stickers to put on your speedo. The switch all went really well because it was the seventies and everybody was driving low powered Austins and Datsuns.

The "Flush Median" or Middle lane. What happens when two cars travelling in opposite directions want to use it ? We're seeing these more and more in NZ. They just seem like a bad idea to me.

As for the give way rule at intersections, Australia got it right, and NZ got it wrong, and the NZ government will probably change it. I'm not looking forward to that, I think the Automobile repair industry WILL however.

Yes unfortunately in NZ we are having the odd incident of campervan head-ons. The only way to fix this is to abolish visitors driving licenses and have hired drivers ( like Asia ). I don't know how Avia and Hertz will feel about that though.

The way those worked here was simply that it was up to any overtaking driver to make sure that the middle lane was clear far enough head to complete the maneuver and pull back to the left in safety.

Both could use the lane, but neither had priority, if you see what I mean.

If you had drivers coming from opposite directions, each deciding to pull out to pass without signaling first, then there was going to be a big problem.

One reason why these center "both-ways" lanes were phased out here was simply that the increasing volume of traffic on British roads was making them completely impractical.

Compare this with the "Center lane left turn only" arrangements in the United States. The latter is a practical solution to keeping turning cars from blocking the through traffic -- But the difference there is that using the center lane for passing is not allowed.

I don't know how potential visitors would like it either. If I were planning a visit to NZ and was told I wouldn't be allowed to drive there, that would be the end of the trip before it even started.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 04-10-2005).]

I think the hired drivers idea would be a total non starter in any developed country to be quite honest. Wage costs would make it utterly unafordable for tourists!

A country like NZ or Ireland / Scotland / England etc is best visited by car too. Tourists like to browse around and have the freedom to explore at their own pace.

I mean they're ideal countries to do that kind of self-drive exploration in!

They're not THAT dangerous to drive in, but I do think that it's vital to remind tourists occasionally which side of the road they should be on, particularly in rural areas where traffic levels are so light that it is possible to slip into the old habit of driving on the right until you hit a tractor!

I suppose you could also argue that tourists are less likely to have accidents than New Zealanders as they're going to be far more alert driving on an entirely alien road system!


When I think about it the number of French drivers who go around roundabouts the wrong way is miniscule compared to the number of Irish drivers who manage to do far more lethal things despite being 100% familiar with the roads.

Familiarity breeds contempt?

Most nearly fatal accident we had as a family back in the early 1970's. Freckleton marsh, south of Blackpool. Three lane road with common centre passing lane. Dad pulls out to overtake and at the same time, in the distance, oncoming car does the same - both cars pull back. Thinking one's letting the other go Dad has another go - the other driver obviously thought the same - it was a bit like meeting someone on the pavement and both stepping side to side trying to pass each other.

Situation ended up with four cars on a three lane road with the centre pair passing at 140 mph! There were no wing mirrors on cars in those days and the passing gap was so small that three pairs of door handles got smashed! My mother's palms were bleeding from clenching her fists. Not something to be repeated and I'm glad these roads have at last been phased out.

South Africa has them with an important modification - one direction has a dashed and single white line rather than just a dashed one which reinforces that the other direction has priority. I have still though seen what was probably a fatal head-on in this situation. Not good.