Why Do They Drive on the Left in the UK ?

'There are no plans to switch to driving on the right, the Department for Transport said.'
'The convention of driving on the left is thought to date back to Roman times.'

Photos via Getty Images
'There are no plans to switch to driving on the right, the Department for Transport said.' 'The convention of driving on the left is thought to date back to Roman times.' Photos via Getty Images
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Why Do They Drive on the Left in the UK ?

'There are no plans to switch to driving on the right, the Department for Transport said.'
'The convention of driving on the left is thought to date back to Roman times.'

Photos via Getty Images
'There are no plans to switch to driving on the right, the Department for Transport said.' 'The convention of driving on the left is thought to date back to Roman times.' Photos via Getty Images

Many people who visit the United Kingdom wonder why do people there drive on the left.

Gareth Edmunds, 59, from Bristol, said his theory is that it's something to do with times gone by when if you met a stranger on the road you'd pass on the left so your weapon arm was on their side. He also agrees with Stephen Laing, curator of the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire who believes that theory dates back to Roman times.

"Most people are right handed, naturally mount a horse from the left and so need their right hand free for combat," he elaborates.

"Roman armies marched on the left hand side of the carriageway and this is a convention that stayed."

Motoring author Giles Chapman said Britain's Highway Act of 1835 enshrined driving on the left in law for this country and its colonies.

"The rule was exported, for example, to Japan, where British engineers planned its railways to drive on the left, leading to a similar edict for road vehicles," BBC reported.

Richard Mace, 63, who lives near Chatham in the south-east of England, said he had always been curious as to why they drive on the right in the US.

"The reason I have been given goes back to when wagons were drawn by oxen," he said. He could be on the right track.

In the late 1700s wagons pulled by horses arranged in pairs became increasingly popular, Fraser McAlpine wrote for BBC America.

The driver sat on the back of the rear left-hand horse, to whip the others right handed.

The best way for one wagon to pass another without banging wheels was the right hand side of the road, according to McAlpine.

The government examined such a plan in 1969, two years after Sweden switched to driving on the right, according to BBC. Its report rejected the idea on grounds of safety and costs.

In 1969, the financial burden of making the switch was calculated by the government to be £264m.

That equates to about £4bn in today's money. But given the huge advances in infrastructure since 1969 this would now be an extremely conservative estimate.

Stephen Laing, curator at the British Motor Museum, said he could not see Britain swapping sides.

"I think we are kind of set in our ways," he said. "The infrastructure is built around driving on the left hand side. I can't really see that changing in the future."

The Department for Transport said: "We do not have a policy on this because it's not something we are interested in at this time.



Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
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Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)

Tens of millions of people across the Midwest and East braced Sunday for another sweltering day of dangerously hot temperatures as a rare June heat wave continued to grip parts of the US.

Most of the northeastern quadrant of the country from Minnesota to Maine was under some type of heat advisory Sunday. So were parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, The Associated Press reported.

The temperature had already reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius) in the Chicago area by 7:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts called for heat indices of between 100 and 105 degrees F (37.7 to 40.5 degrees C).

The heat index in Pittsburgh was expected to top 105 F. The temperature in Columbus, Ohio, was 77 F (25 C) at 8:30 a.m. Highs there were expected to reach 97 F (36 C) with a heat index around 104 F (40 C).

Forecasts called for a heat index of 100 F in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 108 F (42.2 C) heat index on Monday.

The city’s public health department declared a heat emergency starting at noon Sunday and ending Wednesday evening. Officials directed residents to air-conditioned libraries, community centers and other locations, and set up a “heat line” staffed by medical professionals to discuss conditions and illnesses made worse by the heat. At Lincoln Financial Field, officials said each fan attending Sunday’s FIFA World Cup match would be allowed to bring in one 20-ounce (0.6-liter) plastic bottle of water.

Sunday marked the second straight day of extreme heat across the Midwest and East Coast. Heat indices on Saturday hit 103 F (39.4 C) in Chicago and 101 F (38.3 C) in Madison, Wisconsin, turning that city's annual naked bike ride into a sticky and sweaty affair.

Minneapolis baked under a heat index of 106 F (41.1 C). The actual temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C), which broke the old record for the date of 95 F (35 C) set in 1910, according to the weather service.

The heat is expected to persist into the coming week, with the hottest temperatures shifting eastward. New York City is expected to see highs around 95 F (35 C) on Monday and Tuesday. Boston is on track for highs approaching 100 F (37.7 C) on Tuesday, and temperatures in Washington, D.C., were expected to hit 100 F on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meteorologists say a phenomenon known as a heat dome, a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere that traps heat and humidity, is responsible for the extreme temperatures.

Mark Gehring, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sullivan, Wisconsin, said this level of heat is not uncommon during the summer months in the US, although it usually takes hold in mid-July or early August. The most unusual facet of this heat wave is the sheer amount of territory sweltering under it, he said.

“It's basically everywhere east of the Rockies,” he said, referring to the Rocky Mountains. “That is unusual, to have this massive area of high dewpoints and heat.”