Why Do LHD and RHD Co-exist?

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Left Hand Drive Car Buyers London
Left Hand Drive Car Buyers London

Left-hand and right-hand drive vehicles

Do you know of anyone who does not love cars? Neither do we. Automobiles are not just a necessity, they are also a statement. A symbol of glamour, style, and class. All automobiles have some things in common and some differences. For instance, there are LHD-Left hand drive vehicles and RHD-Right hand drive vehicles. An LHD has its entire driving assembly (Steering wheel, gearbox, clutch, accelerator) on the left-hand side while an RHD has this assembly on the right side. Don’t confuse LHD/RHD with LHT (Left-hand traffic) and RHT (Right-hand traffic). A RHD car is typically designed for Left-hand traffic, while a LHD is designed for Right-hand traffic. The demand for LHDs and RHDs is not governed by any one factor. You will find Left Hand Drive Car Buyers London as well as those looking for RHD cars.

Facts about countries with LHD and RHD

Many people may not know why vehicles exist in these two types. According to the latest research, 75 % of the people around the globe drive LHD cars while only 25 % have RHD vehicles. Many countries that follow right-hand driving are British colonies ( Current or former ). In old times, when English feudalism was at its peak, sword fighters and knights or sword fighters would prefer to stay on the left-hand side when walking or riding down a road as their right hand wielded a sword. This made it easier to defend themselves in case there was an attack. In the 18th Century, Napoleon Bonaparte enforced Left-hand drive after conquering Poland, Switzerland, Germany, and other European countries but Britain being its greatest opponent refused to follow this and maintained its traditional right-hand driving. Of course, his staunch opponents like Britain stubbornly refused to do In fact, they enforced RHD in all their colonies and this is why these colonies still follow the same rules. It should be mentioned here that when it comes to Europe, only 4 countries have left-hand traffic: Cyprus, Malta, Ireland, and the UK. If you search in the UK, you will find several agents and companies dealing in vehicles such as Left-Hand Drive Cars Spanish Registered.

The Americans however wanted to say goodbye to their British roots and opted for left-hand driving. The Philippines, interestingly, used to follow left-hand driving when they were under the USA but this was changed in 1945 to RHD when they were conquered by the Japanese.

This was to be changed once again in 2015 when the Philippines decided to officially adopt Right-hand side traffic rules and now use LHD vehicles.

Left Hand Drive Car Buyers London
Left Hand Drive Car Buyers London

Why there is still demand for both?

 These facts not only provide a wide range of LHD and RHD vehicles to the world but also gives several countries the opportunity for becoming manufacturing hubs that then produce vehicles not just for sales within the country but also for exporting them throughout the globe. While it is a fact that major RHD markets were British colonies, however other countries such as Japan, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, Bhutan, etc still use RHD cars even though they were never ruled by the British. RHD markets number much less than LHD but there are surprisingly still some countries which are adopting the “right”, such as Samoa which recently took this step to benefit from the import of much cheaper cars from New Zealand and Australia. In the UK, you will find considerable demand for LHDs such as Left Hand Drive Cars Spanish Registered.

Different rules in different countries

Entry of an RHD into many countries with left-hand driving is legal but there are exceptions. For instance, LHD vehicles are forbidden in Australia. Anyone who imports them will have to spend money to re-quip them. New Zealand requires a special permit. Lithuania and Slovakia do not even register RHD cars. In some eastern parts of Russia, RHD cars are very common and popular, even though they follow right-hand traffic. This was caused by the import of used and very cheap vehicles from Japan between 1990 to 2000. In parts of Russia which fall in Europe, 99% of vehicles are LHD.