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Right-hand traffic and left-hand traffic mean regulations requiring all traffic to keep either to the left or the right side of the road.¹² This is so fundamental to traffic flow that it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road.³ The purpose of this basic rule is to facilitate traffic flow and reduce the risk of head-on collisions. Though originally most traffic drove on the left worldwide,⁴ today about 34% of the world's people live in left-traffic countries and 66% in right-traffic countries. About 28% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the left, and 72% on the right.⁵

Contents 1 Terminology 2 Road traffic 2.1 Uniformity 2.2 Left-hand traffic 2.3 Countries with left-hand traffic 2.4 Right-hand traffic 2.5 Countries with right-hand traffic 2.6 Changing sides at borders 2.7 Changing to right-hand traffic 2.8 Foreign occupation and military transit 2.9 Safety factors 2.10 History 2.11 Trains 2.12 Trams (streetcars) 2.13 Ships and boats 2.14 Priority 3 Vehicles 3.1 Driver seating position 3.2 Legal restrictions on wrong-hand drive vehicles 3.3 Headlamps and other lighting equipment 3.3.1 Rear fog lamps 3.4 Buses 3.5 Postal vehicles 4 Specific jurisdictions 4.1 Afghanistan 4.2 Australia 4.3 Austria-Hungary 4.4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4.5 Burma (Myanmar) 4.6 Canada 4.7 Caribbean 4.8 China (mainland) 4.9 Croatia 4.10 Cyprus 4.11 France 4.12 Gibraltar 4.13 Guyana and Suriname 4.14 Hong Kong and Macau 4.15 Iceland 4.16 India 4.17 Indonesia 4.18 Ireland 4.19 Italy 4.20 Japan 4.21 Malaysia 4.22 Malta 4.23 New Zealand 4.24 Pakistan 4.25 Russian Federation 4.26 Samoa 4.27 South Korea 4.28 Suriname 4.29 Sweden 4.30 United Kingdom 4.30.1 Exceptions to the rule 4.30.2 Military fleets & bases 4.31 United States 4.32 Vanuatu 5 Notes and references 6 See also 7 External links

Terminology

Countries have adopted one of two standards for traffic flows: ie. traffic flows either on the left- or right-side of the road. Countries are said to have left-hand traffic (LHT) or right-hand traffic (RHT).⁶⁷⁸

Vehicles are manufactured in left-hand drive (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) configurations, referring to the placement of the driving seat and controls within the vehicle.⁹¹⁰¹¹ Typically, the placement of the steering wheel is opposite to the rule of the road: LHT countries use RHD vehicles, and RHT countries use LHD vehicles.^{citation needed} However, there are countries that drive on the left but use mostly LHD vehicles (for example, some Caribbean islands,^vague and Sweden before the change from LHT to RHT in 1967), or that drive on the right but use mostly RHD vehicles.^{citation needed} Furthermore, many countries permit both types of vehicles on their roads.^{citation needed} Terminological confusion can arise from the misuse of "left-hand drive" or "right-hand drive" to indicate the side of the road along which vehicles are driven.^{citation needed}

Road traffic

Main article: Traffic lanes

Uniformity

Signatory countries to the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949)¹² have agreed to a uniform direction of traffic in each country. Article 9(1) provides that:

“

All vehicular traffic proceeding in the same direction on any road shall keep to the same side of the road, which shall be uniform in each country for all roads. Domestic regulations concerning one-way traffic shall not be affected.

”

In the past, there were several countries which had different rules in different parts of the country (eg. Canada until the 1920s).^{citation needed} Currently, China is the only exception to this rule, with Hong Kong and Macau driving on the left while the rest of China drives on the right.^{citation needed}

Left-hand traffic

• Oncoming traffic is seen coming on the right.
• Right-turning traffic must cross oncoming traffic.
• Most traffic signs facing motorists are on the left-hand side of the road.
• Other vehicles are overtaken (passed) on the right.
• Traffic on roundabouts (traffic circles or rotaries) goes clockwise.
• Pedestrians crossing a two-way road should first look for traffic from their right.
• Most vehicles have the driving seat on the right.

When driving on the left:

• Overtaking (passing) is on the right if permitted
• The lane designated for normal driving and turning left is on the left
• Most dual carriageway exits are on the left
• Overtaking is in some circumstances permitted on the left. In the UK overtaking on the left (colloquially known as 'undertaking') is not usually permitted, except in certain circumstances, such as when the vehicle being passed is indicating to make a right turn, in a queue of slow-moving traffic, or on a one-way street where all lanes are travelling in one direction. Directives generally require all traffic to keep left unless overtaking.^{citation needed} In Australia overtaking on the left is permitted when lane boundaries are marked.^{citation needed}
• Turn-to-left after stop may be allowed at stop signs/lights.

Countries with left-hand traffic

Total: 75 countries

Today, only four European countries continue to drive on the left: Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom. All are island nations, and as such none shares a physical border with a country that drives on the right; all were once part of the British Empire. Some Commonwealth countries and other former British colonies, such as Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and South Africa continue to drive on the left, but others such as Canada, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the United States drive on the right. Other countries and territories which drive on the left are Thailand, Indonesia and East Timor in Southeast Asia, Suriname, Japan, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Macau. Most Pacific countries drive on the left, and South Asian countries, which constitute most of the Indian subcontinent, like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have left-hand traffic.

Right-hand traffic

• Oncoming traffic is seen coming from the left.
• Left-turning traffic must cross oncoming traffic.
• Most traffic signs facing motorists are on the right-hand side of the road.
• Other vehicles are overtaken (passed) on the left.
• Traffic on roundabouts (traffic circles or rotaries) goes counter-clockwise.
• Pedestrians crossing a two-way road should first look for traffic from their left.
• Most vehicles have the driving seat on the left.

When driving on the right:

• Overtaking (passing) is on the left if permitted
• The lane designated for normal driving and turning right is on the right
• Most dual carriageway exits are on the right
• Overtaking is in some circumstances permitted on the right.
• Traffic is required to keep right
• Right turn (in some places after stopping the vehicle) may be allowed at intersections
• In most European right-hand drive countries,^{citation needed} the lack of turn arrow markings in the road implies that the left lane is used by left-turning traffic, the right lane by traffic going straight and turning right and all others lanes for going straight. Such rules in the USA vary between the states
• The driver should give way to the incoming vehicle on the right

Countries with right-hand traffic

Total: 164 countries

Changing sides at borders

Certain countries in Africa, Asia, and South America have land borders where drivers must change to the other side of the road.

Where neighboring countries use different traffic rules, drivers from one to the other must change sides at border crossings. Thailand is particularly notable in the context. It drives on the left and is the only sizable country that has 90% (4,357 km or 2,707 miles) of its borders with countries that drive on the right,^{citation needed} with only Malaysia driving on the left since Myanmar (Burma) changed from driving on the left to driving on the right in 1970. Other notable borders in this context are between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Laos and Thailand, Sudan and Uganda.

Many borders are formed from natural barriers such as mountains or rivers, and this is particularly true of borders where traffic changes sides of the road, especially in Asia.^{citation needed} These natural barriers make the number of border crossings much lower than might otherwise be the case. Furthermore, given their remoteness, most mountain border crossings have relatively low traffic volumes^{citation needed} and so changing sides of the road is even less of an issue.

The four most common^{citation needed} ways of switching traffic from one side to the other at borders are:

• Traffic lights. Examples are:
  • Friendship Bridge between Thailand and Laos, change takes place on Lao side - photo, photo
  • Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, between Thailand and Laos, change takes place on Thai side
  • Friendship Bridge between Thailand and Myanmar - photo
  • New bridge between Thailand and Myanmar (opened in 2006) - photo

• Crossover bridges. Examples are:
  • Lok Ma Chau between Hong Kong and mainland China - Google Maps
  • Lotus Bridge between Macau and mainland China - Google Maps

• Border roads intersect with roundabouts or other one-way traffic systems. Examples are:
  • Man Kam To between Hong Kong and mainland China - Google Maps
  • Land border between Macau and mainland China - Google Maps
  • The Eurotunnel Shuttle service of the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France - Google Maps and Google Maps

• No automatic infrastructure (signposts and directions only), most commonly^{citation needed} found at borders with low traffic volumes. Examples are:
  • Poipet between Thailand and Cambodia - photo, photo
  • Old bridge between Thailand and Myanmar - photo, photo
  • Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China - photo
  • Friendship Bridge between China and Nepal

Changing to right-hand traffic

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Over the course of the 20th century, there was a gradual worldwide shift from driving on the left to the right. Portugal changed to right-hand driving in 1928, and the parts of Canada which were still driving on the left changed over by 1923. The remainder of Italy changed over when Benito Mussolini came to power, and Austria and Czechoslovakia changed when Adolf Hitler annexed or occupied them, and Hungary followed suit. The Latin American countries, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, the rest of Brazil and Chile, changed by 1945, and the Philippines and China in 1946. Belize changed to right-hand driving in 1961. Sweden changed in 1967 and Iceland did so in 1968. Burma changed, allegedly on the advice of a wizard,¹⁴ in 1970. (For the logistics involved see the Swedish experience.)

Taiwan, formerly drove on the left under Japanese rule, but changed to driving on the right in 1946 after the government of the Republic of China assumed administration; the same happened in North and South Korea, another former Japanese colony. However, some trains in Seoul still keep to the left, as does pedestrian traffic in the subway system.

The most common reason for countries to switch to right-hand traffic is for conformity with neighbors, as it increases the safety of cross-border traffic. For example, former British colonies in Africa, such as the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Ghana, have all changed from driving on the left to the right, because they all share borders with former French colonies, which drive on the right. The former Portuguese colony of Mozambique continues to drive on the left, which is a legacy of its Portuguese past; even though Portugal itself changed over in the 1920s, Mozambique continues to drive on the left because all its bordering countries do. Decisions by countries to drive on the right typically centre on regional uniformity. There are historical exceptions, such as postilion riders in France, but such historical advantages do not apply to modern road vehicles.

There is a popular story that Napoleon changed the rule of the road in the countries he conquered from keep-left to keep-right. The justifications mentioned are usually symbolic, such as that Napoleon himself was left- (or right-) handed, or that Britain, Napoleon's enemy, kept left. This story has never been shown to have a factual basis and it appears to be a legend.¹⁵

Foreign occupation and military transit

Many^{citation needed} countries have temporarily or permanently changed their rule of the road as a result of foreign occupation. Recent examples include Austria, Czechoslovakia (details) and Hungary under German rule or military transit in the 1930s and 1940s.^{citation needed} The Channel Islands also changed to driving on the right under German occupation, but changed back after liberation in 1945.^{citation needed} The Falkland Islands did the same under Argentine control during the 1982 Falklands War.^{citation needed} East Timor changed to driving on the left under Indonesian rule in 1976,^{citation needed} and continues the practice as an independent state. The Japanese region of Okinawa changed from left to right under US control;^{citation needed} in 1972 Okinawa was returned to Japanese sovereignty, and six years later, in 1978, the driving rules reverted to left-hand traffic as in mainland Japan.^{citation needed}

Safety factors

Research in 1969 by J. J. Leeming showed countries driving on the left have a lower collision rate than countries driving on the right.^{citation needed} This research is questioned in Peter Kincaid's book on the rule of the road,^{citation needed} but some countries that have switched to driving on the right, such as Sweden, have seen their long-term accident rates increase by more than any increase in traffic volume.^{citation needed} It has been suggested,^{citation needed} but not proven, that this is partly because it is more common to be right-eye dominant.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸ Traffic flows in a clockwise direction when driving on the left which enables right eyed people to use the right eye to see oncoming traffic. When overtaking (passing) on a right-side-driving road, the right-eyed driver looks in the wing mirror (side mirror) with the left eye and also views the oncoming traffic with the left eye which is not suited to the majority right-eyed people.

History

In 1998, archaeologists found a well-preserved track leading to a Roman quarry near Swindon, England. The grooves in the road on the right side were observed to be much deeper than those on the left side, which would make sense given that carts would be driven without any load on the way to the quarry, but would return laden with stone. These grooves suggest that the Romans drove on the left, at least in this particular location.⁵

In fact, some (e.g. C. Northcote Parkinson) believe that ancient travellers on horseback generally rode on the left side of the road. As more people are right-handed, horsemen would thus be able to hold the reins with their left hands and keep their right hand free—to offer in friendship to passing riders or to defend themselves with swords, if necessary.^{citation needed}

The first legal reference in Britain to an order for traffic to remain on the left occurred in 1756 with regard to London Bridge.^{citation needed} The Highway Act 1773 contained a recommendation that horse traffic should remain on the left and this is enshrined in section 78 of the Highway Act 1835.^{citation needed}

In the late 1700s, the shift from left to right that took place in countries such as the United States was based on teamsters' use of large freight wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. The wagons had no driver’s seat, so a postilion sat on the left rear horse and held his whip in his right hand. Seated on the left, the driver preferred that other wagons pass him on the left so that he could be sure to keep clear of the wheels of oncoming wagons. He did that by driving on the right side of the road.^{citation needed}. Other countries, for example France, adopted driving on the right as a result of Napoleonic occupation/control.

The British kept to the left as there was no practical or political impetus for change. Countries that became part of the British Empire adopted the keep-left rule too, although many have since changed. Canada, for example, where the maritime provinces and Vancouver (later to become British Columbia) drove on the left,^{citation needed} eventually changed to the right in order to^{citation needed} make border crossings to and from the United States easier. Nova Scotia switched to driving on the right on April 15, 1923.^{citation needed}

Trains

Trains may or may not adhere to the same directionality as cars. In France, for instance, cars keep to the right, but the first train lines were built by British engineers,^{citation needed} so kept to the left.^{citation needed} The Paris RER trains keep left,^{citation needed} but have to operate on separate tracks within the Paris Metro area which was designed to run on the right.^{citation needed} Another anomaly occurs in the Alsace-Moselle region, where trains keep to the right because the lines were built in the late 19th century when Alsace-Moselle had been part of Germany.^{citation needed} Bridges at the former border allow the trains to swap sides.^{citation needed} High-speed TGV trains, however, operate on dedicated lines which were built more recently, but they keep left because^{citation needed} they interface with older lines. Madrid Metro trains operate also to the left.^{citation needed}

Moreover the exceptions of left or right hand driving are much more common for trains than for cars.^{citation needed} Initially, most steam engines were RHD, with the driver (engineer) sitting on the right, and the fireman sitting on the left.^{citation needed} This was customary in the UK and it spread to the USA and elsewhere in the world. RHD was never converted to LHD even if the trains switched to right-hand running.^{citation needed} RHD remains the customary way for operating trains,^{citation needed} with the driver on the right and assistant, sitting on the left side of the cab. Some railways, particularly, the London Underground, switched to LHD with left-hand running.^{citation needed} Left Hand Drive with left hand running also became common on UK mainline railways, with the Great Western Railway being the only of the "big four" to keep the driver on the right.^{citation needed} To ease visibility, GWR signals were also occasionally placed on the right-hand side of the tracks,^{citation needed} even though this meant that they were between the running lines, and a few examples of this have managed to survive.^{citation needed} Nowadays all British trains (except a few preserved locomotives and a number of narrow-gauge railways) have the driver on the left side of the train, and the signals are also on the left-hand side of the track.^{citation needed}

In countries with trains keeping to the right it is often said^{citation needed} that RHD is safer, as it is possible that something from a train passing on the left track (like opened cargo doors) may hit the train. In such case driver on the right is safer than if he were sitting to the left. Also, since signs and signals are usually placed on the outside of double track formations (e.g left hand side for left hand running or right hand side for right hand running),^{citation needed} having the driver on the side as well makes it easier for them to see signs and signals, and also to view back along the platform either directly or using mirrors, particularly useful with one person operated trains. Finally, if 'train orders' or 'tokens' (permission to continue beyond a station or other control point) are handed-up or grabbed by the engine driver while rolling past, being on the 'outside' is mandatory to receive these 'orders/tokens'.

Unlike on the road, it is possible for trains to safely run on the wrong side so long as bi-directional signalling is installed. This is normally only done in limited circumstances, since junctions and other infrastructure is usually optimised for running in one direction.^{citation needed}

Trams (streetcars)

Tram and streetcar systems generally follow the same rules as normal road traffic in the country concerned, both on road and on reserved sections, with the passenger doors on the kerbside. Various exceptions existed or have existed, examples including the now-removed system in London and the current system in Blackpool where some sections of tramway had or have both tracks on the same side of the road with no physical separation from road traffic.^{citation needed}

The driver is usually positioned near the centre of the vehicle, although some single-operator trams have been developed wherein the driver sits nearer the centre of the road.^{citation needed} On the left-hand running Blackpool system and Melbourne trams built between the 1970s and 1990s, the driver sits on the right; on the old right-hand drive Zagreb trams, the driver sits on the left.^{citation needed}

When Sweden changed to driving on the right, its single-ended tram had the doors on the wrong side, and this was taken as an excuse to scrap some trams.^{citation needed} Gothenburg operated its trams in opposite-handed pairs, the left-hand-drive tram leading before the changeover and the right-hand-drive tram afterwards.^{citation needed} Over time, all trams have been converted with many trams built in the sixties still being operated.^{citation needed} In the north-eastern part of the system, the trams pass through a tunnel under Hammarkullen, which lies on top of a steep hill. Since building a single central platform was cheaper, the trams switch sides at Hjällbo and runs on the left past the last four stops.^{citation needed}

Ships and boats

Generally all water traffic keeps to the right.^{citation needed} This is historically because,^{citation needed} prior to the use of a rudder, the boat was steered by a tiller, which was located on the right-hand side,^{citation needed} also called starboard side of the boat, because the helmsman, standing in the middle of the boat and looking ahead, used his right hand to operate it.^{citation needed} Traditionally, boats would also moor with the left hand side to the quay to prevent damage to the steering oar,^{citation needed} and this was referred to as larboard (loading side), later replaced by port to prevent confusion from the similar sounding words. By keeping to the right, boats pass port-to-port, protecting the steering oar. When modern style rudders fixed to the stern were developed, the helmsman was moved amidships (on the centreline), and when steering wheels replaced tillers this generally remained the same. Many motor yachts and other small craft are RHD, but some boats, typically smaller pleasure craft and wooden 'speedboats' are built LHD, to give a better view of approaching and passing traffic.^{citation needed}

However, there are many exceptions, often indicated on the particular bridge itself.⁵

The rule of the road at sea is that powered vessels give way to sailing vessels;^{citation needed} but as between two powered vessels, if they are crossing the rule is to give way to the starboard, while if they are head on each must navigate to starboard so as to pass "port to port". See International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.

Priority

Main article: Traffic#Priority (right of way)

As well as the side of the road, priority rules also differ between countries. In the United Kingdom, priority is always indicated by signs or road markings, in that almost every junction not governed by traffic lights or a roundabout has a concept of a major road and minor road. In most of Continental Europe, the default priority is to give way to the right, but this default may be overridden by signs on major roads. In Germany, traffic on roundabouts used to have priority, but that rule was abandoned to align with other European countries. Now most roundabouts have give-way signs for traffic entering the roundabout. One special case is the Place de l'Étoile in Paris (the location of the Arc de Triomphe). Traffic on this particular roundabout is so chaotic that French insurance companies deem any accident on the roundabout to be equal liability. British and Irish drivers who are accustomed to having right of way by default unless they are specifically told to give way, are often more confused by the default give-way-to-the-right rule used on minor roads in nearby Continental Europe than they are by switching sides of the road^{citation needed}.

Vehicles

Driver seating position

On most early motor vehicles, the driving seat was positioned centrally. Some car manufacturers later chose to place it on the nearside — the side of the car closest to the kerb — to help the driver avoid scraping walls, hedges, gutters and other obstacles. Other car manufacturers placed the driving seat on the offside — closest to the centre of the road — to give the driver the longest possible seeing distance in traffic. This is the pattern that eventually prevailed.

Legal restrictions on wrong-hand drive vehicles

For reasons of safety, politics, and/or economic market protection, some countries ban the sale or import of vehicles with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side.

In Australia, importation of non-vintage (i.e. less than 30 years old) LHD vehicles is illegal. Imported LHD vehicles must be converted to RHD, costing thousands of dollars. However, Western Australia and the Northern Territory (both which have at various times hosted U.S. military facilities and had vehicles imported, used and sold by U.S. service personnel) have LHD vehicles in circulation. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) previously allowed non-vintage LHD vehicles to be registered, but changed its legislation some years ago.

In India, LHD vehicles cannot be sold commercially to customers, but they can be imported for research and testing purposes under government approval.¹⁹

In New Zealand, LHD vehicles may be privately imported, and driven locally under a LHD permit. Since 1999, only LHD vehicles older than 20 years or cars owned and operated for at least 90 days may be privately imported. Diplomats and Operation Deep Freeze personnel are exempted from these restrictions.

In the Philippines, RHD vehicles are banned. Public buses and vans imported from Japan are converted to LHD, and passenger doors are created on the right side. This ban was thought to be the result of the increase of accidents involving RHD vehicles, most of which were trucks. However, some vans keep their doors on the left side, leading to the dangerous situation in which passengers have to exit toward oncoming traffic. Some RHD industrial cranes and other off-road vehicles remain.

Cambodia banned the use of RHD cars, many of which were smuggled from Thailand, from 2001, even though RHD vehicles accounted for 80 percent of vehicles in the country. The government threatened to confiscate all such vehicles unless they were converted to LHD, in spite of the considerable expense involved. According to a BBC report,²⁰ changing the steering column from right to left would cost between US$600 and US$2,000, in a country where average annual income was less than US$1,000.

Although it drives on the right, North Korea has imported various used RHD vehicles from Japan, from tourist buses to Toyota Land Cruisers.

However, many used vehicles exported from Japan to countries like Russia and Peru are already converted to LHD. But even if the driver's position is left unchanged, some jurisdictions require at least replacement of the headlamps.

Singapore bans LHD vehicles from being imported for personal local registration, but temporary usage by tourists of LHD vehicles is allowed. However, diplomatic vehicles in Singapore are exempt from the RHD-only ruling, and there are a few hydrogen and fuel cell powered LHD vehicles currently undergoing trials in Singapore.

In Taiwan, Article 39 of the Road Traffic Security Rules (zh:道路交通安全規則) require a steering wheel to be on the left side of a vehicle to pass an inspection when registering the vehicle, so RHD vehicles may not be registered in Taiwan. This rule does not apply retroactively, so a RHD vehicle that was registered before this rule does not lose its registered status and may continue to be legally driven.

In Trinidad and Tobago, LHD vehicles are banned except for returning nationals who were resident in a foreign country and are importing a vehicle for personal use. LHD vehicles are also allowed to be imported for use as funeral hearses.

In West Africa, once-British Ghana and Gambia have also banned RHD vehicles. Their traffic has been changed from on the left to on the right. Ghana prohibited new registrations of RHD vehicles after 1 August 1974, three days before the traffic change on 4 August 1974. RHD vehicles may be imported only temporarily into Sierra Leone, for example for humanitarian programmes, but must be exported at the end of the operation.

Most of the above bans on RHD and LHD vehicles apply only to locally-registered vehicles. Countries that have signed the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic are not allowed to make such restrictions on foreign-registered vehicles. Paragraph 1 of Annex 5 states "All vehicles in international traffic must meet the technical requirements in force in their country of registration when they first entered into service". Therefore all signatory countries and most non-signatory countries allow the temporary import (e.g. by tourists) of foreign-registered vehicles, no matter which side the steering wheel is on. Oman, which has not signed the Vienna Convention, bans all foreign-registered RHD vehicles.²¹

Both RHD and LHD vehicles may generally be registered in any European Union member state, but there are some restrictions and regulations. Slovakia, despite being a member of the European Union, does not allow the local registration of RHD vehicles,²² even if the vehicle is imported from one of the four EU countries that drive on the left (UK, Ireland, Cyprus, and Malta). Lithuania has prohibited new RHD vehicle registration since 1993.

Headlamps and other lighting equipment

Most low-beam headlamps are specifically designed for use on one side of the road or the other. Headlamps for use in LH-traffic countries have low-beam headlamps that "dip to the left", i.e., the light is distributed with a downward/leftward bias to show the driver the road and signs ahead without blinding oncoming traffic. Headlamps for RH-traffic countries have low beams that "dip to the right", with most of their light directed downward/rightward. Within Europe, when driving a vehicle with RH-traffic headlamps in a LH-traffic country or vice versa for a limited time (as for example on holiday or in transit), it is a legal requirement to adjust the headlamps temporarily so that the wrong-side hot spot of the beam does not dazzle oncoming drivers. This may be achieved by adhering blackout strips or plastic prismatic lenses to a designated part of the lens, but some varieties of the projector-type headlamp can be made to produce a proper LH- or RH-traffic beam by shifting a lever or other movable element in or on the lamp assembly.

Because blackout strips and adhesive prismatic lenses reduce the safety performance of the headlamps, most countries require all vehicles registered or used on a permanent or semi-permanent basis within the country to be equipped with headlamps designed for the correct traffic-handedness. In the UK, US government and military personnel who brought RHT/LHD cars with them used to 'trade' headlamp assemblies with a person returning to the US^{citation needed}. The newcomer then had proper LHT lights and the US-bound returnee had proper RHT ones again. As most 50s-80s headlamps were interchangeable, this 'swap' could save motorists time and money.

Anecdotal reporters have observed^who? the requirement to adjust headlamps for the traffic-handedness of the country is increasingly flouted, and is now rarely enforced by European police forces. In France, this may be due in part to the 1993 deletion of the previous requirement for selective yellow headlamp light; foreign-registered vehicles are now much less conspicuous at night.

Without sidecars attached, motorcycles, motor scooters, mopeds, and bicycles are almost symmetric with their handlebars in the centre. However, motorcycles are often equipped with automotive-type asymmetrical-beam headlamps that likewise require adjustments or replacement when brought into a country with opposite traffic-handedness.

Rear fog lamps

Within the EU, vehicles must be equipped with one or two red rear fog lamps. A single rear fog lamp may be located on the vehicle centreline, or on the driver's side of the vehicle. It may not be located on the passenger's side of the vehicle. This sometimes requires the purchase and installation of local-market lighting components.

Buses

Buses typically have passenger doors only on the kerbside, which severely restricts their ability to operate effectively on the opposite side of the road to that for which they were designed. Increasingly, touring coaches, which are likely to cross frontiers of traffic-handedness during their duties, are fitted with a door on the opposite side from the kerb, to simplify access and egress in the foreign country. In Britain this is known as a "continental door", since its usefulness will be in continental Europe. It doubles as an emergency exit, but is much more user-friendly than an exit designed solely for emergency use.

It is usually fairly straightforward to retrofit a non-kerbside door on buses with relatively low floor height; the many traditional British double-deckers sold on for tourist use in the USA and Canada are examples.

Postal vehicles

Post Office cars and vans in different countries such as the United States, Canada, Finland, Estonia and Sweden have the steering wheel on the opposite side to normal vehicles. This is so the driver can easily drive up next to mailboxes or get out straight onto the pavement without having to walk around their vehicle, or put mail in boxes without getting out of their vehicle at all. In the US, rural mail carriers often must provide their own vehicles and have a limited selection of RHD vehicles that they can choose to buy or lease. Some utility service vehicles are also RHD to allow dismounting at the kerb and some newspaper carriers use RHD vehicles to deliver papers to kerbside boxes rather than drive along routes on the wrong side. The Jeep Wrangler is available in the United States in RHD configuration, since this particular model is popular with rural mail carriers who sometimes operate in less-than-optimal road conditions and thus appreciate the Wrangler's 4WD capabilities.^{citation needed} In Australia and the UK, LHD street sweeper trucks are common for the purpose of the driver having a better view of the left side kerb they are cleaning.

Specific jurisdictions

Afghanistan

Afghanistan drives on the right. Most vehicles in much of the country, however, are RHD cars imported from neighbouring Pakistan (with the exception of Herat and other western provinces). In the capital Kabul, most drivers have adapted to this problem, leaning over the passenger seat (on the car's left side) before making a left turn or before overtaking other vehicles by veering into the left (oncoming traffic) lane. The country also has a large volume of military vehicle traffic from the U.S., Canada and EU militaries, much of which is LHD.

Australia

Australia drives on the left. The decision to drive on the left side of the road was made in the early 19th century in the early period of the British colony of New South Wales by Governor Lachlan Macquarie after the first road was built, and followed the British practice. Australian states and territories use the "give way to the right" rule; in the absence of regulations specific to a particular situation, drivers must yield the right of way to all vehicles to their right.²³ This applies to merging lanes as well as intersections.

Austria-Hungary

The Austro-Hungarian Empire drove on the left. Successor countries switched to the right separately. Austria did it in stages, beginning from the west:

• Vorarlberg: 1919,
• Tirol and western half of Salzburg: 1930,
• Carinthia and East Tirol: 1935,
• Upper Austria, Styria, eastern half of Salzburg: June 1, 1938,
• Lower Austria: September 19, 1938.

Poland's Galicia switched to the right around 1924. Czechoslovakia planned to start driving on the right on May 1, 1939, but the change in Bohemia and Moravia was prompted by the German occupation forces (Bohemia: March 26, 1939). Hungary also acted later than planned: the government decided about the change in June 1939 but postponed it and finally introduced it at 3am on 6 July 1941 outside Budapest and at 3am on 9 November 1941 in Budapest.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Austro Hungarian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, and after the collapse of the empire, it started driving on the