Rule of the Road

RULE OF THE ROAD. This in Great Britain and Ireland is a matter of common law, otherwise custom, the origin of which is too remote for other than conjecture. The only statutory enact ments dealing with the ordering of road traffic are the terms of the Highways Act of 1835, and those of the Motor Car Order of 1904. In the former it is laid down that all vehicle drivers must keep to the left side of the road when encountering other traffic. In the latter it is specifically ordered that drivers of motor vehi cles, when meeting other traffic, must keep to the left, or near side of the road ; and when passing any traffic proceeding in the same direction must keep to the off, or right side of it. Those seeking for a reason for the original choice have surmised that the left side was adopted because of the need on the part of drivers to have their whip hands free, which would not be the case on the narrow tracks and roads then existing if the right side had been selected. A more fanciful explanation was the wisdom, in turbu lent times, of horsemen keeping that side of the road which would admit of the sword arm being free in case of attack. But, while plausible, both leave unexplained why most other nations reversed the order, their traffic flowing along the right side of the road On the Continent of Europe the right is the correct side for wheeled traffic in every country except Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. In America the right is the correct order of the road for wheeled traffic.

Motors.

These differences, in view of the enormous increase of international road travel, due to the development of the motor vehicle, are becoming irksome and at times dangerous, and there is a growing desire to adopt a single universal rule. But the great disturbance and confusion inevitable in such radical change in the daily life of a nation makes the necessary surrender of its customs as disagreeable for one group as the other, and so, although dis cussions and proposals arise periodically, there seems to be little possibility of any agreement of the kind. Any change from the existing order would involve not only a corresponding reversal of traffic procedure, but the structural alteration of every motor vehicle in use. Experience has shown that where the left side of the road is the rule the driver must be seated on the right side of his vehicle in order that he may be the better able to keep his off-side front wheel clear of the traffic he is meeting; and, of course, the contrary holds when the right is the correct side.

Horses.

From the point of view of horse traffic the question of the adoption of a universal rule of the road in the various countries, though for obvious reasons this would appear desirable, is not so affected by considerations of safety as in the case of motor vehicles, since accidents due to forgetfulness on the part of drivers accustomed to pass on the opposite side are more easily avoided when travelling at the pace of a horse, and when they occur are likely to be less serious. It may be noted that although

it is considered essential in motor vehicles that the driving seat should be on the side nearest to approaching traffic, it appears never to have been thought necessary so to construct horse car riages in countries where the rule of the road is the right; such countries are therefore at a disadvantage in this respect.

In civilian life it has always been customary for a horseman when riding one horse and leading another to ride with the led horse on his right or off side, the object being to allow full free dom to the left or bridle hand. Since it is desirable that the led horse should be on the side away from passing traffic, this obliges the rider to cross the road when a vehicle approaches and to pass it on the wrong side, a dangerous practice at any time, but more so now than formerly, owing to the naturally greater ignorance of present-day road travellers as to the ways of horses; moreover, the horseman, as he is contravening the rule of the road, has no redress in the case of accident. At night, especially, the practice of leading on the right is a very real danger, as it is then impossible to pass approaching vehicles on the off side, and the led horse, if frightened, may shy into the middle of the road and be struck by a passing vehicle before the driver is aware of any obstruction or has time to avoid it. In the army it has for some years been recognized that the ridden horse can be as well controlled by the right as by the left hand, and horses are now led on the near or left side, thus necessitating no change from the normal method of passing approaching traffic. (E. CAM., G. W.) American Practice.—The United States has departed from the common law inherited from England as to the basic rule of the road. The rule in the United States as in the greater part of Continental Europe and elsewhere, is to pass approaching traffic on the right hand side of the roadway, whether operating a motor vehicle or driving, riding or leading a horse or other animal. Canada has abandoned the left hand in favour of the right hand rule. Neither rule appears to have any outstanding physical advantage over the other, but where either has become firmly established many structural and equipment details and practices are based upon it. While for more than a decade right hand drive prevailed, virtually all American motor vehicles are now built with the driver's seat on the left side, thus enabling the driver to watch his clearance with approaching vehicles. High way signs and automatic traffic signals are placed to be seen from the right hand side of the road. The American rule of the road is also consistent with the practice on the street railways and nearly all the steam railroads.