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Comment by KMnO4 | Hacker News Reader

>About 30 percent of the world's nations drive on the left side of the road, known confusingly as right-hand drive

How is it confusing? Is the steering wheel on the left-hand side or right-hand side of the car? It’s it’s on the left, it’s a left-hand drive vehicle. If it’s on the right, it’s a right-hand drive vehicle. Who even wrote this article?

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One could interpret the meaning as driving with the left or right hand.

No, if steering wheel is on the left then it's N/S (at least in the UK), otherwise O/S.

LHD or RHD can be confusing. Is it RHD if your car is Spanish car (is it LHD?) being driven in UK...?

What do N/S and O/S stand for?

In your example if you have a Spanish car (steering wheel on left hand side of car from driver perspective) driven on UK road (lane on left side of road from driver perspective) then it is still LHD as the left hand refers to the position of the steering wheel relative to the car. This doesn’t change.

In relation to the center of the road the driver is closer to the center. So it's a little confusing left road = right driver situation.

Anyone who got confused, has shortcomings in understanding the topic was about a car and not a road or region. I have never heard of any one being unclear what a left hand drive or right hand drive vehicle was. Vehicles come in all shapes and forms, left, right, center, dual ... and may be driven wherever in the road, though the region's laws and police would certainly stipulate it's safer to be one side or another.

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