Why do the British drive the other way?

At the time of the Roman Empire, walking on the left was safer.

In one of every three countries in the world, cars are on the left lane and the direction is on the right side of the vehicle. Almost all of them were colonies of England .

A story circulating on the internet and in the mouths of people says that by the time Britain was under the rule of the Romans, the roads used by the English were dangerous.

To defend themselves, they left the sword near the right hand, since most were right-handed. So, when they saw someone coming in the opposite direction, the safest was to lean against the left side and let the stranger pass to the right. If anything came up, it was only to defend himself with his right.

"It is likely that the old Brits walked on the left side because the Romans did this and the soldiers also marched on the left," says Canadian historian David Ross, a fan of British history and editor of Britain Express .

The behavior would be similar to that of the duels of knights, who carried the spears in their right hand and faced each other face to face.

Another possible explanation for this may lie in the way a horse mounts . The most common is to climb up the left side of the animal, passing the right foot over the saddle. Since no one would do it in the middle of a busy road, the most natural thing would be to do it by the side of the road, looking at it. So, going up the left of the horse, the easiest is to walk with it to the left.

Some historians dispute this explanation. "Why should they walk on their own?" Asks Mike Bishop, author of several books on Roman roads in England. Bishop recommends that you notice the movement of pedestrians on a busy sidewalk, where people tend to follow streams of people, walking in rows but without any guidance. "Why should the Roman roads work otherwise?" He asks.

The reason why most of the world walks on the right hand side comes from a decision of 1794 of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who came to conquer half of Europe. As the English did not bow down to him, they continued on the left.

On the escalators, the Englishmen share the rule that those who are not in order to climb the steps by moving their muscles should be on the right side. On the London Underground, there are signs saying "keep right" (keep right). In the subway of São Paulo, the rule is the same, but the advice is different: "leave the left free". Some speculate that there is a political orientation behind it. If such a preference ever existed, it would be impossible to prove such a thing.