Right- and left-hand traffic facts for kids

     Right-hand traffic      Left-hand traffic

A sign on Australia's Great Ocean Road reminding foreign drivers to keep left.

The driving side of a road is the side on which traffic flows. Each country says whether traffic will keep on the right-hand or left-hand side of the road. This is sometimes called the rule of the road. This basic rule makes traffic move easier. It also reduces the risk of head-on collisions. Today about 66.1% of the world's people live in countries who drive on the right-hand. 33.9% live in countries that drive on the left-hand.

Images for kids

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  Parts of Canada were LHT until the 1920s, shown here in Saint John, New Brunswick, 1898

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  Vehicles entering and leaving Macau cross over each other at the Lotus Bridge

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  Crossover bridge near the Takutu River Bridge between Guyana (LHT) and Brazil (RHT)

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  Handedness of rail traffic worldwide

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  Helmsman's station on a Philippine Marine Corps patrol boat

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  Right-hand traffic on the A2 in Germany

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  Right-hand traffic on Jamsil Bridge in South Korea

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  Left-hand traffic on the M1 motorway in the UK

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  Left-hand traffic on Kwun Tong Road in Hong Kong

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  Left-hand traffic in Vienna, Austria, circa 1930

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  Gibraltar has been RHT since 1929.

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  Sign reminding motorists to drive on the left in Ireland

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  A road sign in the British country of Kent placed on the right-hand side of the road

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  Change of traffic directions at the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge

See also

In Spanish: Sentido de la circulación para niños