Humans have experienced traffic problems since our ancestors first tied ropes around the necks of oxen. Yet we don’t know why 165 countries practice righthand traffic (RHT) while 75 others choose lefthand traffic (LHT) – or which is safer.
There are nearly 1.5 billion cars in the world today, and when your great-granny was born, there were none. We didn’t need consistent behaviour on the roads until a few minutes ago, so it’s understandable that we might be at odds with how other countries organize their roads.
Canada’s Road Directions Were Byproducts of Colonialism and Economic Savvy
Some sources say 18th-century France rode its horses on the right, and its American colonies followed suit. Others claim Napoleon instituted RHT, while others say the very idea of RHT was an innovation born of the Revolution – like the guillotine. But the people of Hochelaga and Stadacona predate both Napoleon and the Revolution by centuries, and they rode on the right.
One would assume the Brits chose LHT simply to gainsay Johnny Beret. But history texts claim that riding southpaw allowed the right arms of soldiers to remain free to hack and slash approaching enemies. Which sounds silly. Why would someone set on committing murder bother obeying the laws of the road?
Anyway, we know Brits rode LHT, as did their colonies in pre-Confederation Canada. Of course, their erstwhile colonies south of our border tweaked His Highness’s nose with wall-to-wall RHT. All of this caused traffic madness around Canada’s internal and international borders, which leads to a big question.
Why Did Canada Only Agree to Drive RHT Decades After Confederation?
From the start, like Mother France, Quebec rode RHT long before it was Quebec. Same for Ontario. Yes, preceding the Seven Years War, which included the Plains of Abraham, what we now call Ontario was part of New France, which is what we call Quebec today. After switching colonial masters, they didn’t bother switching to LHT. RHT was better for business with America.
But what of other British colonies? B.C. and the Maritime provinces originally legislated LHT. And they stayed that way long after Confederation in 1867.
Alberta and Saskatchewan didn’t join the Canada Club till Sept. 1, 1905. (For decades, there was a huge map gap between Manitoba and B.C.) They came in on the right, so to speak, and have driven RHT ever since.
When Did Canada’s LHT Holdouts Join the Continental Right of Way?
A classic Canadian compromise, B.C. gradually converted to RHT between 1919 and 1923. That’s four years with drivers clashing directions in one province. Absolute chaos.
Meanwhile, 4,200 km east of Fernie on Dec. 1, 1922, New Brunswick ripped its traffic bandaid clean off. Advertisements all over the province capitalized on the historic event. Signs like “Celebrate New Traffic Day with a Slice of our Upside Down Cake” abounded. Speaking of food, 1923 in New Brunswick supposedly became known as the Year of Free Beef when stubborn oxen that learned to travel LHT collided with now cars on the right careening at mindboggling speeds.
The year 1923 saw Nova Scotia switch to RHT after some humming and hawing, and in 1924, P.E.I. joined too. Newfoundland didn’t convert until 1947. But as any proud St. John’s dweller tells it, Canada didn’t join Newfoundland until 1949.
So, 1924 seems to be the last time there was LHT in North America because it appears that all three territories were RHT from their inceptions.
It made economic sense to mimic our continental neighbours to the south and go full RHT. In 1923, the New Brunswick Automobile Association predicted, “tourist traffic should be greatly increased when the difficulty of the road rules is eliminated.” Maybe it took thousands of years for civilization to get here, but is there any more modern reason for upheaving change than to attract tourists?
But Which Side Is Safer? A Messy Crash into the Numbers
Put simply, it’s not simple. We’ve had traffic about as long as we’ve had the wheel, but almost no studies investigate which side of the road is safer. None proves it.
“The scarcity and limitations of empirical data into road traffic accidents associated with LHT or RHT are surprising,” claims the only recent (2019) study I could find.
Oncoming traffic, left or right, is more hazardous to drivers than pedestrians, sandwich boards, or mailboxes on sidewalks. So, for LHT drivers, the right poses more dangers; while the left is more dangerous for RHT roads. It sounds simple.
Then, why is there so little data, and why is it so indefinite? Two huge reasons: brains and apples.
First, apples: Science is conducted by gathering, theorizing about, and testing data. We’ve gathered and can theorize over tons of traffic data, but testing’s a bugger. Local laws, topography, weather, volume of traffic, quality of roads, and scores of other variables mean making conclusions is complicated.
Take Something as Seemingly Straightforward as Canadian Driving Culture
Would you compare the roads of a retirement community in suburban Victoria, where snow is a local legend, with Toronto’s desiccated Don Valley Parkway, where the rules of the salt-eaten roads are treated as suggestions? Such discrepancies in variables are possible here in sleepy, relatively homogeneous Canada.
In scientific studies, it’s best to limit complexity by limiting variables so you’re comparing apples to apples, not to pears, potholes, and pylons.
That’s apples. Now, second and infinitely more complex, your brain: There are over 80 billion neurons there, each capable of forming paths to thousands of others. No wonder the study of neurophysiology is still in its infancy. Scientists are still struggling to understand and map how our brain functions, and how it interacts with our eyes, hands, and feet.
Mind, some of this study’s more conclusive data suggest what matters most is when our hands, feet, eyes and brain function together.
Depending on How Old You Are, LHT May Be Safer Than RHT
About 90 per cent of the human race is righthanded; their right legs and eyes also dominate. When LHT drivers (seated on the right) shift gears, or adjust the heat or stereo volume, they use their less dominant left hand, leaving the one with greater facility to do the all-important steering. The study concludes that LHT is likely safer for young, inexperienced drivers who are learning to drive.
But with experience, we all quickly learn to compensate for our less dominant side. Soon into your driving life, the safety advantages of traffic sides become negligible. After all, you weightlift with both arms balanced, sprint evenly with two legs, and are probably reading this without an eye patch.
But Data Suggests RHT Might Be Safer, at First, If You Read from Left to Right
Now, more about right eye dominance: Those who’ve learned to read in Latin alphabets seem to develop left biases and “may react faster to left side hazards,” which is our oncoming traffic.
But once you get older or if you shake your head too much at metal concerts, the data falls down. Aging and mildly brain-damaged RHT drivers may not notice that their ability to react to hazards on the left has diminished.
Hence, the study’s ultimate conclusion: If you’re young or old and you read from left to right and drive in a country with LHT laws that are obeyed, it might be safer statistically. Except most data only registered traffic deaths, not all collisions. (See above regarding complexity.) No surprise, like so many academic conclusions, it highlights the need for further study.
My conclusion? Put your phone away and watch out for idiots coming at you from all directions, not just the left.
