Did you catch the show this weekend? Caller Julie from Cambridge, Our Fair City, MA., posed an interesting question. She wondered why we here in the U.S. we drive on the right-hand side of the road, when all other former British colonies seem to drive on the left. If you missed it, you can listen ri…

just heard this story and did some digging and this is the reason why the Brits and some other countries rive on the "wrong side" what was said in response was pretty close, but the pope said do it that way. So, when the English became protestant why didn’t it change in protest and French nobili…

it’s not a mystery anyone can look it up now on line but the story is and has been that teamsters hauling loads on horse drawn carts use to sit on the rear left horse and they stayed to the right side so the could make sure they didn’t knock carts with other carts passing in the opposite direction w…

@Cringe Shrapnel Roger. What they taught us in Fourth Grade US History (“Our Country, Our People” or similar – maybe you had to survive through that class too?) is that when Conestoga wagons came into widespread use, it happens they were assembled with the driver’s seat on the left side of the wag…

Napoleon started the convention of driving on the right because there was no convention before he started moving his armies across Europe and the chaos was slowing him down. i don’t know why or when other countries chose their sides. BTW, I think the weight of Pinewood Derby should be equally dist…

I understand, though I can not verify, that when the automobile was first being built 100+ years ago there were two theories as to which side the sterring wheel should be on and it has to do with the complexity of shifting gears, afterall, there was no such thing as an “automatic” transmission. In …

Many antique US cars had the driver on the right side (like the 1911 Regal my dad had). So it’s not an old horse carriage choice.

There is a lpt of other silly stuff, in the olden days of 1 sided cut keys, Crysler cars had the cut side up and GM the cut side down. Chrysler you cranked one way to roll the window up, gm was the opposite. It even continues to which side of the button you press for electric windows to go up or dow…

In jousting duels, I imagine the custom must have been to keep to the left. On TV and Movie recreations they show the riders keep to the left. It makes sense, as it allows both opponents to hold their jousting sticks w/their right hand. Even if you were just riding down the road on horseback, i…

Well, I had to read all the posts before I could chime in, but Dustin Johy, mentioned my thots about it. Most people are right handed and ir is easier to shift gears, adjust the rear=view mirroe, or the heater or the radio with one’s right hand,. I don’t think the earliest cars had radios tho.

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Vince_from_Kingston January 26, 2013, 9:31pm 7

Good descriptions of the reason we drive on the right: with the addition that the drover sat on the left horse BECAUSE you mount a horse on the left side, a very difficult thing to do on the right hand horse of a team!

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