1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

on the right of the horse, so the keep.-to.
the-left rule was most advantageous in
coping with the approaching charger.
Britain always has kept to the left side
of the road. Some say this is because Julius
Caesar invaded the island in 56-55 B.c.
and enforced the left-side rule. Britain's
unwritten drive-on-the-Ieft rule was enforced
by the courts in the late Middle
Ages. It finally became a written law in
Britain's Highway Act of 1835, which was
sixty years before cars became the accepted
mode of transport
A later reason for the British keeping
to the left was that the English wagon and
carriage drivers preferred to drive seated
on a box on the right-hand side of the
coach so that they could use their whips
freely, which were normally secured to
the right-hand side of the seat. To facilitate
their using their whips, they chose
the left side of the road.
In Continental Europe, however, instead
of the carriage drivers riding seated on the
carriage, they preferred to ride the horse
nearest the left wheel of the carriage and
drive on the right side of the road. This
position would make it easier for them to
see the approach of other carriages and
facilitate passing oncoming vehicles.
There is still another side to this story.
Emperor Napoleon, some say, favored the
right side of the road and established this
rule in all countries he conquered. This
may explain why the left-hand rule of the
road was still in force in the Austro­
Hungarian Empire, Portugal and parts of
Switzerland and Italy at the beginning of
the present century, and is still in force in
Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden
and the United Kingdom.
The Americans have always driven on
the right of the road. Their choice was
probably influenced by their admiration for
the French, who drove on the right of the
road.
22
Recent Changes Made
In recent times several countries have
changed from the left to the right side of
the road. Many of these changes were
made due to the country's being occupied
by foreign military forces accustomed to
the opposite rule of the road. There is no
record of any country's ever changing
from the right to the left side of the road.
The possibility of a changeover from
left to right is now being considered by the
governments of West Africa and other
countries. Sweden is considering a change
probably in 1967, and Britain is to discuss
changing the rule with Australia and New
Zealand in the near future. In anticipation
of a possible change, all future roads in
England are being designed so that traffic
can move on either the right or the left
side of the road.
Imponderables of Changeover
The problems involved in changing from
one side to the other are stupendous. For
example, for Australia to change it is estimated
that, with a warning Period of five
years, a cost of £200 million would be involved
simply to switch the steering mechanism
of the three million cars on its roads
from the right to the left side of the dashboard.
The cost of changing the steering,
pedals and panel instruments would range
from £110 on a Volkswagen and smaller
cars to over £300 on American and
British-made, cars. In addition, Australia
is planning on spending some £810 million
within the next ten years on a roadbuilding
program. It is not likely that the
Australian will want to bear such a great
financial burden without first settling this
issue of changeover. But the problem of
changeover does not end there.
Let us assume an order was issued in
the land where you live that on the following
morning everyone in the country was
AWAKE!