Why do we drive on the left hand side of the road

By MUNGAI KIHANYA

The Sunday Nation

Nairobi,

13 July 2008

Some questions appear simple but on second thought, they are intriguing. For example, a reader would like know two things: first, why is it that buttons on men’s clothing are on the right hand side while those on women’s dresses are on the left? Secondly, why is it that we drive on the left hand side of the road while some countries keep right?

There are several “theories” to explain the buttons puzzle. One says that when buttons came into the scene in the 18th century, women in wealthy families used be dressed by maids.

To fasten the buttons easily, the maid needed to hold it her right hand (most people are right-handed) and push it through the buttonhole. Thus the button was placed on the right-hand side of the maid, which is the left-hand side of the dress.

Gentlemen on the other hand, would dress themselves therefore their buttons were sawn on the right-hand side. Still, the question that remains is why women from poorer families who didn’t have maids put their buttons as well. Well, my guess is that having buttons on the left was a fashion statement that “I am wealthy; have maids who dress me up”.

The reason why some countries drive on the left and others on the right is also historical. The tradition of driving on the left was borrowed from horse-riding. Riders mount onto their horses from the right. They step with the (stronger) right foot and swing the (weaker) left leg over the animal thereby landing on the saddle facing forward. If you did this from the left hand side, you would end up facing backwards – unless you stepped with the (weaker) left leg.

So when the first cars were built, the driver’s seat was placed on the right-hand side. With the driver on the right, it is easier to lookout (peep) for on-coming cars when driving on the left of the road – ask anyone who has a left-hand-drive car in Kenya.

The keep right tradition came from large horse-drawn wagons that used several pairs of horses. These were common mainly in the USA and France. The driver would sit on the rear left horse in order to free up his right arm to lash the animals.

Since he was sitting on the left, it was necessary to drive on the right of the road so that oncoming wagons could pass on his left. That way, he could easily watch out to make sure that there is enough space for the other wagon to pass.

But which of the two systems is better? Personally, I prefer keeping left…for obvious reasons! Nonetheless, there are 74 nations that keep left and 166 that keep right today. In terms of population, the division is 1.94 billion people keeping left against 3.82 billion who keep right.