Driving on right hand side

jase1

ChumLee wrote: »

Why? They're in the same place as a right hand drive model.

Correct position for indicators in a RHD car is the right-hand side (opposite hand to the gear shifter).

Problem is, so many European cars came in during the 1970s and 80s with lazy RHD conversions, people have now got used to the wrong way around.

AdrianC

jase1 wrote: »

Correct position for indicators in a RHD car is the right-hand side

IYHO. The motor industry seems to disagree - rightly, IMHO. The absolute bare minimum of controls should be transposed between LHD and RHD.

The logical conclusion to transposing controls such as stalks can only be having the pedals the other way round...

jase1

AdrianC wrote: »

IYHO. The motor industry seems to disagree - rightly, IMHO. The absolute bare minimum of controls should be transposed between LHD and RHD.

The logical conclusion to transposing controls such as stalks can only be having the pedals the other way round...

British cars up until the 1970s (designed for RHD) had the indicator stalk on the right.

Japanese cars (designed for RHD) have the indicator stalk on the right -- except for sales to the UK/Ireland where they were forced to swap due to customer demand. Malaysian cars (designed for RHD and based on Japanese designs) followed suit.

Australian cars (designed for RHD) had the indicator stalk on the right. Australians still complain bitterly about European imports with the stalk on the left. Early Korean cars (designed with Australians in mind as this was the first RHD market they went for) also had the stalk on the right.

It is not "opinion" to say that the change to the left-side was due to European (designed for LHD) imports.

The point is that with the stalk on the right, one can switch off main beams if caught out whilst changing gear. This is why the arrangement was established in the first place.

AdrianC

I didn't say which side was the correct side. I said the bare minimum of transposition should take place.

jase1

AdrianC wrote: »

I didn't say which side was the correct side. I said the bare minimum of transposition should take place.

You said that the 'motor industry' disagreed with my comment; I was demonstrating that this is not correct, as most of the other major car-manufacturing countries who drive on the left differ from the UK.

RHD with indicator on the left is a UK/Ireland quirk. If you were right with the "bare minimum of transposition" theory (which I dare say is the motivation of the Euro car manufacturers), then all the Japanese-manufactured cars in the US and (continental) Europe over the years would have had the indicators on the right. This has never been the case.

Of course, the same process that resulted in the indicators on the left in the UK from Euro manufacturers, also led to other irritating anomalies like having the bonnet handle in the passenger footwell, Mini Clubman with the larger door on the driver's side and cars where it is possible to activate the brake pedal from the passenger side (potentially deadly fault common in PSA cars for a time).

Gloomendoom

AdrianC wrote: »

<snip long list comprising almost entirely of tiny countries and ex-colonies>

Absolutely...

But still a pretty long list, never-the-less, and many of them popular holiday destinations for Brits.

AdrianC

Gloomendoom wrote: »

But still a pretty long list, never-the-less, and many of them popular holiday destinations for Brits.

I'm not seeing many popular holiday destinations outside of the list I gave way up there.

Iceweasel

Moto2 wrote: »

I bet it was fun to sit and watch the world go by that morning back in 1967 when the Swedes swapped from driving on the left to the right

It was. :cool: