Useless fact 2,487,908,838 LOL
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:13 am
Cool useless fact of why we drive on the Right-hand and Japan Drives on the Left-hand...
[edit] Japan
Japan is one of the few countries outside the Commonwealth of Nations to drive on the left. An informal practice of left-hand passage dates at least to the Edo period, when samurai are said to have passed each other to the left in order to avoid knocking swords (and thus being obliged to duel) with each other (as swords were always worn to the left side). During the late 1800s, Japan built its first railways with British technical assistance, and double-tracked railways adopted the British practice of running on the left. Stage Coach Order issued in 1870 and the revision in 1872 said mutually approaching horses had to avoid each other by shifting to the left.[44] An order issued in 1881 said mutually approaching horses and vehicles had to avoid each other by shifting to the left. An order issued in 1885 stated that general horses and vehicles had to avoid to the left, but they also had to avoid to the right when they met army troops, until the double standard was legally resolved in 1924.[45]
After the defeat of Japan during World War II, Okinawa was under control of the United States and made to drive on the right. Okinawa was returned to Japanese control in 1972 and changed back to driving on the left six years later, at 06:00 on 30 July 1978. (See 730 (transport).) It is one of very few places to have changed from right- to left- traffic in the late twentieth century.
In Japan, foreign cars sold locally have traditionally been LHD, which is regarded as exotic or a status symbol. This aspect had been unknowingly illustrated in the beginning of Japanese film Spirited Away, where the protagonist's wealthy father drives a LHD Audi. This even applies to British brands (although cars for the British market have the steering wheel on the right), in part because many have been imported via the U.S., but many other European countries have made RHD models for the Japanese market. Many tollbooths in Japan have a special lane for LHD vehicles. However, some U.S. manufacturers have made RHD models for the Japanese market (e.g., the Jeep Cherokee (XJ), Ford Probe, Ford Taurus, Saturn S-Series and Chevrolet Cavalier), albeit with limited success.
I got all tis from Wiki.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_hand_drive
[edit] Japan
Japan is one of the few countries outside the Commonwealth of Nations to drive on the left. An informal practice of left-hand passage dates at least to the Edo period, when samurai are said to have passed each other to the left in order to avoid knocking swords (and thus being obliged to duel) with each other (as swords were always worn to the left side). During the late 1800s, Japan built its first railways with British technical assistance, and double-tracked railways adopted the British practice of running on the left. Stage Coach Order issued in 1870 and the revision in 1872 said mutually approaching horses had to avoid each other by shifting to the left.[44] An order issued in 1881 said mutually approaching horses and vehicles had to avoid each other by shifting to the left. An order issued in 1885 stated that general horses and vehicles had to avoid to the left, but they also had to avoid to the right when they met army troops, until the double standard was legally resolved in 1924.[45]
After the defeat of Japan during World War II, Okinawa was under control of the United States and made to drive on the right. Okinawa was returned to Japanese control in 1972 and changed back to driving on the left six years later, at 06:00 on 30 July 1978. (See 730 (transport).) It is one of very few places to have changed from right- to left- traffic in the late twentieth century.
In Japan, foreign cars sold locally have traditionally been LHD, which is regarded as exotic or a status symbol. This aspect had been unknowingly illustrated in the beginning of Japanese film Spirited Away, where the protagonist's wealthy father drives a LHD Audi. This even applies to British brands (although cars for the British market have the steering wheel on the right), in part because many have been imported via the U.S., but many other European countries have made RHD models for the Japanese market. Many tollbooths in Japan have a special lane for LHD vehicles. However, some U.S. manufacturers have made RHD models for the Japanese market (e.g., the Jeep Cherokee (XJ), Ford Probe, Ford Taurus, Saturn S-Series and Chevrolet Cavalier), albeit with limited success.
I got all tis from Wiki.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_hand_drive
