USA: Driving to the right: when & why did we make the switch???

[mrcvs]

Just a general question:

I own a 1917 Maxwell, and the steering wheel is on the left side, which is designed for driving on the right. I looked at a 1913 Hupmobile, and the wheel was on the right, which suggests it was designed for driving on the left, as the British, and other commonwealth nations do, to this day. Other vehicles of the era of this Hupmobile have the wheel on the same side. This suggests a switch to the other side after 1913 and before 1917. When exactly did we switch, and why?

I have driven extensively in Great Britain and I find I prefer driving on the left side of the road, and I prefer shifting with my left hand. Do others feel this way? I don't know what is preferential based on being left-handed or right-handed, and cannot make this distinction because I was born left-hand dominant and became a forced rightie.

I did hear once that the reason why driving began on the left hand side is because it was a natural extension of the way horses were ridden, and, as most were right handed, if you were a knight that was jousting, you would want your opponent to your right to be able to better behead him.

Please do comment, and feel free to support, modify, or refute my claims and theories.

[oldford]

To my knowledge, the autos in the US never drive on the left side of the road. The early cars followed right hand drive (right side of the car) to conform with wagons and horse drawn coaches. Ford's Model T was the first car, i believe, to be left hand drive. Since Ford was such a large producer of cars, most followed suit soon after, most likely because the customers discovered it was easier to see the center of the road when driving on the left side of the car.

Frank

[ply33]

Been covered before: http://forums.aaca.org/f169/right-drive-cars-225256.html

I did not see it listed in that previous thread, but my understanding is that in the very early days driving on the left or right was a state by state thing with New England states often having traffic on the left.

[Chris Bamford]

...Ford's Model T was the first car, i believe, to be left hand drive... Frank

Not so — a number of cars prior to the 1908 Model T were left-hand drive, such as, for example, my 1906 Orient Buckboard.

[Guest fordy]

Its my understanding that driving on the left side of the road does go way back to days of old when encountering someone on your travels may well have resulted in violence. Passing to the left thus kept your right hand (and sword) ready to strike without any degree of awkwardness of having to turn the body. A bit biased against those left handed people.

Now the vague bit that could be Bull%^$t - apparently Napoleon was a leftie and as emporer decreed that people had to pass him on that side so he was ready to defend. Since most of Europe and what became the US of A was under french rule that is why they are left hand drive and "british" dominions are right hand. Any clarification on the truth in this?

As an aside Canada used to be right hand and I think Sweden or Denmark up to the 1960's and more recently Vanuatu? has just changed to left hand drive.

[ply33]

Its my understanding that driving on the left side of the road does go way back to days of old when encountering someone on your travels may well have resulted in violence. Passing to the left thus kept your right hand (and sword) ready to strike without any degree of awkwardness of having to turn the body.....

The more reasonable explanation I've heard is that it stems from the different traditions of handling carriage and wagon teams. If you ride on the carriage/wagon (as the English did) then a right handed driver wants to sit on the right so he has free swing with his whip hand. And you want to be on the traffic side to judge critical separation so you drove on the left. If the driver rides on the back of the rear horse (postillion style like the French) then you want to ride on the left horse so you can easily use the whip on any horse. But since you are on the left you now wish the carriage to be on the right side of the road.

Walking beside the team, as the driver of a Conestoga wagon did (despite how the movies had it) gives the same result as riding on the left rear horse: You want your right whip hand near the team. And it helps that you don't have to walk in that muddy side ditch.

So in the US states/territories where heavy freight (Conestoga wagon) traffic predominated everyone kept to the right even if they were riding on the ranch buckboard. In more settled areas closer to the British coaching traditions, like New England, traffic was on the left.

At least that is the story I heard and it make some sense to me.

[Rusty_OToole]

When roads were bad and cars few it made sense to put the steering wheel on the right, where the driver could watch the shoulder and the ditch especially when inching over as far as possible to pass a loaded hay wagon on a narrow country road.

Later it made more sense to put the wheel on the left so the driver could see around the other cars if he wanted to pass.

The most expensive makes kept the right side steering wheel longest. Partly to make it easier for the chauffeur to step out on the sidewalk to open the door for the passengers, and partly out of conservatism.

[john2dameron]

Many early American cars had the steering wheel on the right including Ford but when Ford began producing the Model T he went with left hand steering. Chevrolet used left hand steering from day one. With these two popular makes using left hand steering it made sense for the others to conform. By 1920 almost every American make had left hand steering except some fire trucks continued to use right hand steering. Pierce-Arrow was probably the last American car to convert to left hand steering and that would have been about 1922.