In some countries, traffic drives on the right-hand side of the road and in others on the left. In certain cities, trucks are allowed to drive on the right side of the road and bicycles may follow a different set of rules.
In Australia we drive on the left side of the road. The decision on which side of the road to use was made in the early 19th century by Governor Lachlan Macquarie following the British practice. New Zealand drives on the left too, also owing to its British colonial heritage. Most former British colonies, with some exceptions, drive on the left side of the road.
The United States of America was once a British colony too. During the American colonial days, the French colonies kept to the right and all the other colonies kept to the left. It wasn’t until after 1813 that the USA formalized driving on the right. Today all US states and territories except the US Virgin Islands drive on the right.
In driving on the left side of the road, the cars are built so that the driver sits on the right-hand side of the car or truck. The opposite is true for driving on the right side of the road.
81 Countries Driving on the Left Side
81 Countries Driving on the Left Side
Antigua and Barbuda |
Australia |
Bahamas |
Bangladesh |
Barbados |
Bermuda |
Bhutan |
Botswana |
Brunei |
Cayman Islands |
Channel Islands |
Christmas Island |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
Cook Islands |
Cyprus |
Dominica |
East Timor |
England |
Falkland Islands |
Fiji |
Grenada |
Guernsey |
Guyana |
Hong Kong |
India |
Indonesia |
Ireland (Eire) |
Ireland, Northern |
Isle of Man |
Jamaica |
Japan |
Jersey |
Kenya |
Kiribati |
Lesotho |
Macau |
Malawi |
Malaysia |
Maldives |
Malta |
Mauritius |
Montserrat |
Mozambique |
Namibia |
Nauru |
Nepal |
New Zealand |
Niue |
Norfolk Island |
Northern Ireland |
Pakistan |
Papua New Guinea |
Pitcairn Islands |
Saint Helena |
Saint Kitts & Nevis |
Saint Lucia |
Saint Vincent & Grenadines |
Samoa |
Scotland |
Seychelles |
Singapore |
Solomon Islands |
South Africa |
Sri Lanka |
Suriname |
Swaziland |
Tanzania |
Thailand |
Tokelau |
Trinidad & Tobago |
Turks and Caicos Islands |
Tuvalu |
Uganda |
Virgin Islands (British) |
Virgin Islands (USA) |
Wales |
Zambia |
Zimbabwe |
177 Countries Driving on the Right Side
Abu Dhabi | Kyrgyzstan |
Afghanistan | Laos |
Albania | Latvia |
Algeria | Lebanon |
American Samoa | Liberia |
Andorra | Libya |
Angola | Liechtenstein |
Argentina | Lithuania |
Armenia | Luxembourg |
Aruba | Macedonia |
Austria | Madagascar |
Azerbaijan | Madeira |
Azores | Mali |
Bahrain | Marshall Islands |
Balearic Islands | Martinique |
Belarus | Mauritania |
Belgium | Mayotte |
Belize | Mexico |
Benin | Micronesia |
Bolivia | Moldova |
Bonaire | Monaco |
Bosnia & Herzegovina | Mongolia |
Brazil | Montenegro |
Bulgaria | Morocco |
Burkina Faso | New Caledonia |
Burma | Nicaragua |
Burundi | Niger |
Cambodia | Nigeria |
Cameroon | N Mariana Islands |
Canada | North Korea |
Canary Islands | Norway |
Cape Verde | Oman |
Central African Republic | Palau |
Chad | Panama |
Chile | Paraguay |
China | Peru |
Colombia | Philippines |
Comoros | Poland |
Congo | Portugal |
Costa Rica | Puerto Rico |
Croatia | Qatar |
Cuba | Réunion |
Curaçao | Romania |
Czech Republic | Russia |
Denmark | Rwanda |
Djibouti | Saba |
Dominican Republic | Saint Barthélemy |
Dubai | Saint Martin |
Ecuador | Sint Eustatius |
Egypt | Sint Maarten |
El Salvador | San Marino |
Eritrea | São Tomé & Príncipe |
Estonia | Saudi Arabia |
Ethiopia | Senegal |
Faeroe Islands | Serbia |
Finland | Sierra Leone |
France | Slovakia |
French Guiana | Slovenia |
French Polynesia | Somalia |
Gabon | Somaliland |
Gambia | South Korea |
Gaza | South Sudan |
Georgia | Spain |
Germany | Sudan |
Ghana | Sweden |
Gibraltar | Switzerland |
Greece | Syria |
Greenland | Tahiti |
Guadeloupe | Taiwan |
Guam | Tajikistan |
Guatemala | Togo |
Guinea | Tonga |
Haiti | Tunisia |
Holland (Netherlands) | Turkey |
Honduras | Turkmenistan |
Hungary | Ukraine |
Iceland | United Arab Emirates |
Iran | USA |
Iraq | Uruguay |
Israel | Uzbekistan |
Italy | Vanuatu |
Ivory Coast | Venezuela |
Jordan | Vietnam |
Kazakhstan | Wallis and Futuna |
Korea, North | West Bank |
Korea, South | Western Sahara |
Kosovo | Yemen |
Kuwait |