How Finland became right-handed. Left-hand traffic in different countries

Move to the right side of the road...

For the first time visiting a country in which drivers drive on the opposite side of the road from ours, a person, whether he wants it or not, falls into a stupor. It does not just look and feel strange, but at first it seems that the whole world has turned upside down and you are in the looking glass, the difference is so great.

Have you ever wondered why this happened? How did it happen historically that some countries (most) took the right-hand model for themselves, and the remaining states built roads and drew markings according to the left-hand model? The answers to these questions will take us back in time and will probably really shock you when it turns out that modern motorists owe the scheme of movement to whips, ancient military tactics and sailors.

Today, about 66% of the population the globe moves on the right side of the road, while 72% of all roads have a right-hand traffic pattern, 28%, respectively, have a left-hand traffic pattern. Interestingly, in modern world The evolution of traffic rules is still ongoing. Traffic is preferred on the right side of the road. So, in 2009, the Pacific island state of Samoa switched to left-hand traffic, 187 thousand people were added to the right-hand drive regiment. Rumor has it that the authorities had to do this because a large number used cars with right hand drive. The New York Times wrote that in order for people to get used to the changes in the country, a two-day holiday was announced.

Previously, other countries also massively switched to the other side of the road, mainly to the right-hand version.

The most famous historical crossing was made in Sweden. Once upon a time on the roads of this Scandinavian country, oddly enough, they moved on the left side. But due to the fact that all the neighbors had a diametrically opposed view of which side of the road to drive on, the Swedes had to capitulate and accept new rules of the game. The transition was carried out on 09/03/1967. This day went down in history under the name "Day "H"".

Some other countries have made transitions to right-hand traffic or vice versa to left-hand traffic for the same reasons, mainly due to the inconvenience of communicating with neighboring countries.

But when and how did the traditions originate to move along the road exactly the way people do it now. It all started in the days of foot travelers and chariots. There are many reasons, theories and real prerequisites for this. From the assumption that people on the road, when riding with nobles on horseback, clung to the left in order not to get hit by a whip, to purely physiological prerequisites associated with the fact that most people are right-handed and even political reasons.

Righties rule the world. The right hand theory says that right-hand traffic appeared due to the fact that it was more convenient for right-handed people to control with their right hand, it was safer to beat with a whip when driving on the right side of the road. Yes, and the peasants always clung to the left of a rushing carriage or a man on a horse, so that it would be more difficult to hit them with a whip, in which case. For the same reason, jousting tournaments were held according to the right-hand traffic rules.

In many countries, right-hand traffic developed spontaneously and was eventually enshrined in legislation. In the Russian Empire under Elizabeth I, right-hand traffic was officially legalized. However, even earlier in Russia, when two horse-drawn carriages passed, they pressed against the right side of the road.

In England, a little later, its own law "Road Act" was adopted, with which its own type of traffic was introduced - left-handed. Following the mistress of the seas, all her colonies and lands subject to them became left-handed on the roads. Great Britain seriously influenced the popularization of left-hand traffic.

England itself in antiquity was probably influenced by the Ancient Roman Empire. After the conquest of Foggy Albion, the Romans, who used to drive on the left side of the road, spread this tradition in the conquered territory.

Distribution of right-hand traffic historically attributed to Napoleon and his military expansion in Europe. The political factor played its role. The countries that supported the Emperor of France: Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, began to drive on the right side of the road. Those countries that were their political opponents, England, Austria-Hungary, Portugal, remained on the left side.

Also, the political factor played a role in the case of the newly independent United States of America. After gaining independence from Great Britain, the Americans hurried to switch to right-hand traffic so that nothing reminds of the past.

They did the same in Korea, after Japanese occupation in 1946.

Speaking of Japan. With this island nation, too, not everything is so simple. There are two theories about how the Japanese began to drive on the left. First, historical: the samurai fastened scabbards and swords on the left side, so when moving, in order not to hurt passers-by, they moved along the left side of the road. The second theory is political: allegedly in 1859, the British ambassador convinced the Tokyo authorities to accept left-hand traffic.

These are the historical facts that told us interesting story about the origins different movement on the roads of the world.

The existence of right- and left-hand traffic for more than a decade has been adding work to automakers and a headache for drivers who are forced to drive on the “wrong” side on vacation or on a business trip. And in this duality that still exists, as it turns out, the horses are to blame.

Marine version

Previously, the British could only reach Europe by water. Therefore, maritime traditions have firmly entered the culture of this people. In the old days, English ships had to bypass the oncoming ship on the left side. Subsequently, this custom could spread to the roads.

In modern international rules of navigation, right-hand traffic is fixed.

How did English "leftism" spread all over the world?

Most left-handed countries have chosen this particular traffic pattern due to the following circumstances:

colonial factor.

Great Britain in the middle of the last century was an empire over which the sun never set. Most of the former colonies scattered around the world, after gaining independence, decided to keep their usual left-hand traffic.

During the French Revolution, a decree was issued in which all residents of the republic were ordered to move along the “common” right side of the road. When Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, the scheme of movement turned into an argument of politics. In those states that supported Napoleon - Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain - right-hand traffic was established. On the other hand, those who opposed France: Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, Portugal - turned out to be "leftist". Subsequently, left-hand traffic in this trio of countries was preserved only in the United Kingdom.

Political friendship with Great Britain contributed to the introduction of “leftism” on the roads in Japan: in 1859, the ambassador of Queen Victoria, Sir Rutherford Alcock, convinced the authorities of the island state to accept left-hand traffic.

When did right-hand traffic become established in Russia?

In Russia, the norms of right-hand traffic were established in the Middle Ages. The Danish envoy to Peter I, Just Yul, wrote in 1709 that “in Russian Empire everywhere in the custom, so that wagons and sledges, meeting each other, disperse, keeping to the right side. In 1752, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna enshrined this norm in law by issuing a decree on the introduction of right-hand traffic for carriages and cab drivers on the streets of the cities of the empire.

East is a delicate matter. And the Far East is not clear at all):

As you probably heard, two streets with left-hand traffic appeared in the center of Vladivostok.

Due to the opening of the bridge across the Golden Horn Bay, the organization of traffic in the city center was changed, “in order to optimize traffic and exclusion of traffic intersections”. Including on two streets, it is very unusual - in fact, left-hand traffic was introduced there. But now right-hand drive cars look very harmonious on them.

"Left" exceptions

In right-handed countries there is room for "left" exceptions. So, on the small street of General Lemonnier (350 meters long) in Paris, they move on the left side. There are small sections with left-hand traffic in Odessa (Vysokiy Lane), in Moscow (junction at Leskova St.), in St. on Mordovtseva street).

Which move is safer?

According to experts, which side you are driving on does not affect the degree of traffic safety - it's just a matter of habit.

World ratio right-hand and left-hand roads is 72% and 28%, while 66% of the world's drivers drive on the right side, and 34% on the left.

Is car traffic in Russia left-hand or right-hand? The answer to this question is quite simple. But what about other states? How do people drive on the roads of Africa, Britain or distant Australia?

Geography of the phenomenon: countries with left-hand traffic

The origin of this or that geographical phenomenon (casus) can be explained on the basis of historical features, features of the national mentality or random factors. So, all countries of the world are divided into two groups: states in which they drive on the right side, and those in which left-hand traffic is accepted. The former are much more numerous, since right-handers predominate among the world's population. For such people, right-hand traffic is much more natural. But far from all countries and peoples went "with the flow", adopting left-hand traffic.

In what countries of the world is it common? Driving on the left side vehicles in 47 states of our planet (or about 34% of the world's population). These countries are mainly concentrated in Oceania, Southeast Asia and South Africa.

The most famous example of a state where left-hand traffic is accepted is Great Britain. In this country, it was officially legalized as early as 1756. Other notable examples are Australia, India, Jamaica, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, South Africa. Most of these states are in Asia (17). In Europe, only three countries drive on the left side of the road: the UK, neighboring Ireland, and Malta.

All countries that drive on the left are marked in green on the map below.

Why is that? Hypotheses of the emergence of left-hand traffic

Left-hand traffic originated in Britain. There are two main versions of why the British decided to drive on the left side:

• marine;
• knightly.

Everyone knows that Britain is a maritime power. The traditions and rules of the open ocean are very firmly established in the everyday life of the British. According to the old rules, British ships had to bypass each other exclusively on the left. It is assumed that later this rule migrated to land.

The second hypothesis can be considered rather legendary. The knights of medieval England preferred to ride on the left side of the road: it was supposedly more convenient for them to greet other riders passing by, or to meet the enemy with weapons in hand.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the tradition of left-hand traffic also spread to other countries of the world. Almost all of them were somehow connected with Britain: they were its colonies (like Australia), or were friends with it (like Japan, for example).

States that changed the movement

There are many examples when countries have changed their traffic patterns. It happened by different reasons: political, geographical or quite pragmatic.

The most iconic example of the transition to the opposite traffic system in Europe can be considered Sweden, which decided to take this step in 1967. This day (September 3) entered the history of the state under the name H-Day. The reason was purely geographical: all countries neighboring Sweden were right-handed, which created a lot of problems when crossing the border. By the way, on the borders of countries with different directions of traffic, special and impressive interchanges are being built on the roads. Such exist between Thailand and Laos, Brazil and Guyana, China and Hong Kong.

Some states switched to another traffic pattern solely on the principle of "annoying yesterday's occupiers." This is what Korea did in 1946, liberated from Japanese occupation. So did the United States in 1776, declaring its independence from Britain.

There are examples in the world when countries switched from right-hand traffic to left-hand traffic. This is the island nation of Samoa. The reason for this move is quite pragmatic: the country was oversaturated with used cars from Australia, in which the steering wheel was on the right side. The decision to switch to left-hand traffic in Samoa was made in 2009.

As for Russia, right-hand traffic was originally rooted here. True, on Far East Most cars have the steering wheel on the right side. The thing is that there are a lot of used cars here that came from Japan (where, as you know, the left-hand traffic scheme is adopted).

Finally

Researchers still cannot unequivocally answer the question of how left-hand traffic arose.

In what countries of the world is it common? Everything is simple here. First of all, this is the UK, as well as 46 other states. Almost all of them, to a greater or lesser extent, were historically connected with the former empire, and therefore brought this unusual "habit" into their lives.

Currently, in Russia and many other countries, right-hand traffic is accepted on the roads. There are also countries with left-hand traffic. In the modern world, these are Ireland, Great Britain, Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and a number African countries. Let's try to figure out why this is the situation.
Traditions of left-hand and right-hand traffic originated long before the invention of the automobile.

According to one version, right-hand traffic originated in Europe during the Middle Ages, when narrow roads between settlements It was not cars that drove, but riders on horseback. All of them were armed. In the left hand, the riders held a shield to defend themselves in case of a sudden attack, and therefore they kept to the right side. There is another version of the appearance of right-hand traffic: when the horse-drawn carts were driving apart, it was easier to direct the carriage to the side of the road to the right, pulling the reins with the right hand, which is more developed in most people. Years have passed, vehicles have changed, but the tradition remains...

It is believed that left-hand traffic originated in England. This island state was connected with the outside world only by sea routes, shipping was actively developing. To streamline the movement of ships, the maritime department issued a decree according to which the ships were required to keep to the left side. This rule was later extended to car roads, and also passed to all countries under the influence of Britain. Some still adhere to it. Another version connects the tradition of left-hand traffic with the fact that when horse-drawn carts moved through the streets, the coachman held a whip in right hand and, driving horses, could hit pedestrians. Therefore, the carriages had to drive on the left side.

As for our country, in 1752 the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on the introduction of right-hand traffic on the streets of Russian cities for carriages and cabbies.

AT different time in many countries, left-hand traffic was adopted, but they switched to new rules. For example, due to the proximity to countries that were former French colonies that have right-hand traffic, the former British colonies in Africa changed the rules. North Korea and South Korea changed from left-hand traffic to right-hand traffic in 1946, after the end of the Japanese occupation.

One of the last countries to switch from left-hand traffic to right-hand traffic was Sweden. This happened in 1967. Preparations for the reform began as early as 1963, when the Swedish parliament formed the State Commission for the transition to right-hand traffic, which was supposed to develop and implement a set of measures to ensure such a transition. On September 3, 1967, at 4:50 am, all vehicles had to stop, change sides of the road, and continue at 5:00 am. For the first time after the transition, a special speed limit regime was established.

Tourists who come to a country with unusual traffic for them are advised, for safety reasons, not to drive a car on their own, but to resort to the services of a driver.

This question is, of course, a burning one. It becomes especially relevant when, after a short stay in Japan, you suddenly find yourself thinking that you can’t part with the Japanese out of the blue - you constantly collide. Moving along the Japanese streets on a bicycle, you feel an inner need to "take to the right." Over time, this sad habit passes, but sometimes at the most inopportune moment it makes itself felt. Sometimes this leads to sad consequences; personally, I was almost hit by a car once in Kyoto.

I began to dig into the question of the leftism of the Japanese gradually, without fanaticism; word for word - something gradually managed to collect. Asking the Japanese themselves is a disastrous business. First, it doesn't occur to most of their nation that other countries can drive on the right side of the road. You tell them - they will open their eyes and nod their heads with a zero expression on their faces.

A friend of mine, once visiting Japan on business, was sitting in a bar with a Japanese friend. For the sake of his curiosity, he asks: where did they come to Japan from? Ours answers him, they say, from the country closest to you (it takes place in Sapporo - main city northernmost island - Hokkaido). The Japanese thought for a long time, looked at the Russian for a long time, then said: “From Korea?”. It is famous for such good knowledge about the outside world most of Japanese. Let's get back to our sheep.

The history of accepting the left side of the road as the main one is a strange story. Its roots go back to Japanese antiquity, when samurai rode through the mountainous Japanese terrain on frisky horses with swords on their left sides. On the sling katana ( japanese sword) no one wore, they plugged it into the belt, so that it stuck out from the left side, sticking out about half a meter. Apparently, fearing to be caught by swords and thereby provoke a fight, the samurai began to use the principle of left-hand traffic. In general, they were nervous people, not understanding jokes.

It is rational to assume that in addition to the samurai warriors, whose heroic images are pathetically sung in modern Japanese cinema by director Takeshi Kitano, there was also simple people: peasants, artisans, merchants. How were they supposed to walk? This people did not carry swords and quite calmly used any side of the road. The main joy was to get away from the approaching samurai in time. The latter could easily kill a tradesman for a sidelong glance or for some other “disrespectful” act.

At the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1867), a tradition was already established that indicated to everyone who was heading towards the capital (Tokyo was called Edo at that time) to keep to the left. It seems that such a system has become attached to the Japanese and gradually began to spread throughout the country. We can say with confidence that by the end of the 18th century the custom to drive on the left side of the road had already been formed as general rule to move around Japan.

In the middle of the 19th century, Japan was almost stormed into opening up to the world. Here the Japanese realized the power Western technology and decided to totally borrow everything. Many Japanese teenagers have been sent to study wits in Western universities; most went to England. There, by the way, they also drive on the left side.

Probably, the Japanese would still drive on the right side if the Americans or the French won the tenders for the construction of the first railways on the islands of the Japanese archipelago. But the British were ahead of them. The first train was launched in 1872, and, sadly, the locomotives kept to the left.

Further more. The first horse-drawn trams also moved on the left side of the road. How can such an organization be explained? Probably, the appearance of steam locomotives made such an indelible impression on the Japanese that they simply could not conceive of a different order of traffic. At the beginning of the twentieth century, horses were replaced with an electric drive, and they did not change the routine of movement - traditionalists, after all!

The most interesting thing is that for fifty years no one has bothered to legislate which side of the road should be kept. The maximum that the police department in Tokyo did was to issue an order that horses and cars should keep to the left side, and when meeting with military detachments, to the right. Japanese army - a special case- walked on the right side of the road until 1924.

The rulers of the city of Osaka, without thinking twice, obliged all horse and "car" vehicles to move on the right side of the road. Osaka is the second largest city in Japan, the authorities of which showed enviable independence in resolving their issues. Ordinary Japanese probably “liked” this state of affairs even more. In Tokyo - on the left side of the road, in Osaka - on the right, you do not get bored.

In 1907, in Japan, the first time a pedestrian was crushed to death by a car. It took the authorities another nearly 20 years to legalize left-hand traffic and put an end to the confusion. Although in Japan no one ever gets confused about anything, culture and its customs very tightly regulate every aspect of social activity and human behavior in a group.

It is clear that any foreigner does not care much about the cultural realities of Japan, unless he is a professional researcher. But for us Russians, it is extremely important to quickly figure out which side of the road you should drive on. funny stories with left-hand traffic enough. There are many tales about how the Russians drove onto the highway without cars, drove on the right side, and then began to honk the cars that were driving towards them, swear loudly when they did not immediately figure out which nation representatives were driving. Basically, these tales are designed in the style of "Peculiarities of the National Hunt".

However, here's a real-life practice for you. When an accident occurs without casualties, the Japanese prefer to figure it out themselves and not to interfere with the traffic police. They usually exchange business cards quickly and go about their business. It is difficult to say why they do this - those who speak the language and have lived in Japan for quite a long time, I think, will explain. The Japanese really trust what is written on paper, and only after the exchange business cards begin to perceive the interlocutor and behave with him according to his rank.

This Japan is a mysterious land, and surprisingly beautiful, and cars are made there - just stunned!