We are the home of the brave and the land of the free. We have the largest number of shopping malls and the most McDonalds restaurants. Ours is the country that perfected the notion of “rags to riches” success, a place where the average person can make his or her dreams come true with a little bit of faith in the system, and a whole lot of hard work. We are even the country that thousands of immigrants move to every year with the intention of gaining a better life. So, is it possible that Americans could be wrong about something so mundane as driving on the right side of the road?

According to the inhabitants of over 70 different countries throughout the world, it is not only possible, but true. Many countries, most of which used to belong at some point to the British Empire, or used to be British colonies, have a road system designed entirely for drivers who travel on the left side of the highway. So why, then, don’t we adopt a system such as that of our “across the pond” neighbors? Americans may be more ready to ask, why don’t they do it our way? After all, over 60 percent of the world population already has something similar to the United States in the ways of right hand traffic and vehicular travel.

The reasons for our current practices are ultimately a matter of history. According to the World Standards website, in the early years of feudal societies (those usually portrayed with gratuitous use of castles ruled by stately kings and queens), almost everybody drove on the left side of the road simply for the reason that it was easier. Horses being the dominant mode of travel, right-handed people found it less difficult to mount their steeds from the left side of the road, and sword-wielding riders liked to have their sword arm closer to their opponent in case of violent disagreement. Keeping to the left also helped to prevent a rider’s scabbard from hitting other people…and possibly creating the violent agreement that the sword might have been used for. Overall, in those days, keeping to the left was the most convenient way for the road systems to work. Therefore, that’s what everybody did.

The World Standards website goes on to say that in the late 1700s, the United States was one of the countries that began to mess with the norm. Out of necessity, Americans and the French started driving on the right side of the road to accommodate their more frequent use of large wagons pulled by multiple-horse teams. Since these wagons lacked a seat for the driver, people simply rode on the left horse closest to the wagon so they could keep the whip hand free. Traveling on the right side of the road insured that drivers could see traffic passing on the left, and therefore avoid terrible horse-cart accidents which undoubtedly could be bloody and tragic. An article on Wikipedia backs the World Standards site’s information, also stating that after America and France started to mix things up, other countries decided to follow suit throughout the 20th century. Only a few countries decided to stick with the left hand system, such as Japan, and those that used to hold ties to the Brits.

The reasons for much of these changes, besides the practicality it used to hold for horse-drawn traffic, usually fell in line with what surrounding countries chose to do. It is much more convenient (and probably safer) for someone to travel from one country to another if the “Rule of the Road” stays the same. Hence, the reason why many countries switched to right-driving systems as the countries around them chose to switch, while Britain and Japan and a few other countries (such as Australia) chose to remain on the left.

Many people might feel apt to ask why this is all important. Although much of this is history, obviously, which side of the road we drive on still affects us today. In the current age of fast traffic and more and more traffic accidents, one might ask which method is actually safer, regardless of the historical reasons for why it was put in place. If driving on the left side of the road was found to decrease the number of car accidents, wouldn’t we have taken that into account? After all, don’t Americans always think such things through, before making such important decisions? According to research done by J.J. Leeming in 1965, countries who drive on the left side of the road have a lower collision rate than those that drive on the right side of the road. This may be because most people are right-eye dominant, and in left-hand traffic, the right eye is used to watch oncoming traffic and to “keep an eye on” (no pun intended) the driver’s wing mirror. Whereas, in right-hand traffic, this may be done with the “weaker” left eye. However, this does not take into account the fact that not all drivers are right-eye dominant, so these conclusions may vary depending on the individual. It also doesn’t consider that the citizens of the great nation of the United States of America simply might not care. I mean, we’re good drivers, aren’t we? Does it matter which eye watches the mirrors, as long as we are careful? How much of an advantage does that really give the driver? Perhaps the British and other nations are just as stuck in the way things are, and in their minds, the way they are supposed to be. They may also strongly resist such a change.

So, why don’t we all just drive on the same side of the road? It seems as if history just set us all up this way…and we may be too stubborn to change. It would also take a lot of work to switch around an entire road system and infrastructure now that is has become so complex, and if we did, you never know…Americans might have to find a different way to get to their precious shopping malls or McDonalds restaurants, by driving their vehicles on the “wrong” side of the road.

And who could conceive of America doing anything wrong?