Could the UK drive on the right? | Hacker News Reader

Could the UK drive on the right?

news.bbc.co.uk

2 pointsyannis4 comments

It's one of those cases where the future total cost is infinite and the current cost to switch is finite. And yet, you know that in the long run there will never be a moment when the perception of those two will make it urgent enough to get everybody on the same page to make that switch.

I've driven in England, it takes me about 20 minutes to really get 'in' to it, after that it is ok. The danger points occur when you enter traffic from a very small road onto a larger one and there is no other traffic. Years of conditioning are hard to overcome when there are no other references.

And when crossing the street, I invariably look the wrong way. Nearly got flattened by a bus outside a London convention center a while ago. Good brakes on those buses!

My wife had almost the same accident a few days ago on a holiday to Cyprus. Personally by now I am very good at being 'bi-directional?'. If there is a lot of traffic there is no problem driving at any direction. However, some years back while driving at night I turned in the wrong direction on a circle in Dubai.

Amazingly, if you watch pedestrians they will either avoid oncoming pedestrians left or right depending on their country's of origin driving direction! Try and observe it when you next in Heathrow!

This would just be a massive cost for zero benefit. Silly idea - and a silly article.

Switching from one side of the road to another when visiting continental countries is a trivial problem easily encapsulated by the process of crossing the channel. I regularly move between the UK and France and happily drive cars on either side of the road and with the steering wheel on either the left or right depending upon which car I am driving.

I think the benefits are low but greater than zero. For example, us Brits would be able to buy left-hand drive cars instead of paying more for right-hand drive cars as we do today.

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