Οδήγηση στ' αριστερά

Τάνια Μπάιρα

Γράφει από την Αν. Μακεδονία

Δείτε το ιστολόγιό της : 'Αρωμα Γυναίκας

Γιατί οι Άγγλοι οδηγούν στην αριστερά πλευράς; Kαι εμείς δεξιάς;

Αν σας έλεγα, οτι, το γεγονός ότι οδηγούμε στη δεξιά πλευρά, οφείλεται στον Ναπολέοντα θα το πιστεύατε;

Μετά τον κώδικα οδικής κυκλοφορίας και τις... ραλλιστικές ικανότητες των Ινδών οδηγών που μάθαμε σε προηγούμενη ανάρτηση, αν δεν γνωρίζατε, εγώ πάντως, απέδιδα το γεγονός της... οδήγησης στα αριστερά στην αναποδιά των Αγγλων και στο γεγονός ότι θέλουν να ξεχωρίζουν απο τον υπόλοιπο κόσμο. Ας μάθουμε γιατί οι Αγγλοι οδηγούν στην αριστερά πλευρά, αλλά και μείς στα δεξιά!!

Για τον περισσότερο κόσμο, μας φαίνεται ότι οι Άγγλοι είναι ανάποδοι, και για αυτό οδηγούν στα αριστερά. Κι όμως, κάνουμε λάθος, μιας κι αυτή η τακτική, το να βρισκόμαστε στην αριστερή πλευρά του δρόμου κρατάει από τα πολύ παλιά χρόνια.

Μέχρι το 1700 οι άνθρωποι περπατούσαν στην αριστερά πλευρά του δρόμου. Αυτό αιτιολογείται από το γεγονός ότι οι περισσότεροι άνθρωποι είναι δεξιόχειρες κι έτσι το καλό χέρι, που θα κράταγε το ξίφος σε περίπτωσης που χρειαζόταν, θα έπρεπε να είναι ανάμεσα στον αμυνόμενο και το επιτιθέμενο. Επίσημη οδηγία, στις μετακινήσεις οι άνθρωποι να βρίσκονται στο αριστερό μέρος του δρόμου δόθηκε από τον πάπα στα 1300. Τίποτα δεν άλλαξε μέχρι το 1773, όταν η αύξηση της κυκλοφορίας των αλόγων αλλά και των αμαξών, οδήγησε την αγγλική κυβέρνηση να βγάλει οδηγία, η οποία επέμενε στην κυκλοφορία στην αριστερή πλευρά του δρόμου. Η οδηγία αυτή έγινε νόμος το 1835.

Όλα αυτά εξηγούν το γιατί στην Αγγλία και στις αποικίες της οδηγούν στα αριστερά. Ακούγεται και φαίνεται λογικό. Τότε γιατί στις υπόλοιπες χώρες τα οχήματα κινούνται στη δεξιά πλευρά του δρόμου; Το μόνο σίγουρο είναι ότι οφείλεται στους Γάλλους.

Κατά μία εκδοχή η αλλαγή αυτή έγινε από το Ναπολέοντα. Συγκεκριμένα, όταν τα κάρα άρχισαν να διαδίδονται, ο οδηγός του κάρου δεν καθόταν πάνω στο όχημα, αλλά στο τελευταίο άλογο και μάλιστα στην αριστερή πλευρά. Για να χρησιμοποιούν το καμτσίκι με το δεξί. Από τη θέση αυτή, ο οδηγός μπορούσε μεν να ελέγξει την πορεία όλων των αλόγων, δε μπορούσε όμως να ελέγξει το πόσο κοντά ήταν στα άλλα κάρα. Έτσι, το θέμα ήταν αρκετά σοβαρό, τόσο που ανάγκασε το Ναπολέοντα να κάνει την κίνηση στα δεξιά υποχρεωτική.

  countries with right-hand traffic  -  Χώρες που οδηγούν δεξιά

  countries with left-hand traffic    -  Χώρες που οδηγούν αριστερά

Why do the English drive on the "wrong" side of the road?

Well it's one of those trivia questions that can really nag at you until you find an answer, I did some research and discovered the following:

In days of old logic dictated that when people passed each other on the road they should be in the best possible position to use their sword to protect themselves. As most people are right handed they therefore keep to their left. This practice was formalised in a Papal Edict by Pope Benefice around 1300AD who told all his pilgrims to keep to the left.

Nothing much changed until 1773 when an increase in horse traffic forced the UK Government to introduce the General Highways Act of 1773 which contained a keep left recommendation. This became a law as part of the Highways Bill in 1835.

Reasons to travel on the right are less clear but the generally accepted version of history is as follows: The French, being Catholics, followed Pope Boneface's edict but in the build up to the French Revolution in 1790 the French Aristocracy drove their carriages at great speed on the left hand side of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right side for their own safety. Come the Revolution, instincts of self preservation resulted in the remains of the Aristocracy joining the peasants on the right hand side of the road. The first official record of this was a keep right rule introduced in Paris in 1794.

OK, that explains the UK and France but what about the rest of the world? Britain's imperial expansion (all of the pink bits on old maps) spread the keep left rule far and wide. This included India, Australasia and much of Africa (Although many African countries changed to the right later when they became independent).

France also had quite an empire after the revolutionary wars and the keep right rule spread through much of modern day Europe and to colonies such as Egypt. The connection with the USA is thought to be General Lafayette who recommended a keep right rule as part of the help that he gave the Americans in the build up to the war of Independence. The first reference to keep right in USA law is in a rule covering the Lancaster to Philadelphia turnpike in 1792.

But what about Japan ? well in the 1850's Gunboat diplomacy forced the Japanese to open their ports to the British and Sir Rutherford Alcock, who was Queen Victoria's man in the Japanese court persuaded them to adopt the keep left rule.

History and origin

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; but there is a perfectly good reason.

In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people. 

Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left). It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road. 

In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver's seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.

In addition, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and the subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right. An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right had been made compulsory in 1793.

Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy. The states that had resisted Napoleon kept left – Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal. This European division, between the left- and right-hand nations would remain fixed for more than 100 years, until after the First World War.

Tania Mpaira

Writes from Macedonia, Greece

View her website :
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