Wrong hand drive alfa-digest V7 #919

["C.M. Smith" <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

There's no law against driving from the wrong side of the car in North
America, just against driving on the wrong side of the road for extended
time periods and without lawful excuse. It is quite feasible, if a bit
looney, to drive a wrong hand drive, provided always, as we legal types put
it, the controls are also on your chosen side of the car!. After all if you
wanna drive Detroit iron in Britain, NZ, or Oz (sinister drivers all) and
you don't want to shell out the conversion bucks (pounds in UK) then you
got no choice 'cos Detroit won't make a wrong hand drive for you ('fraid of
getting sued probably if the car hurts you bad and they didn't crash test a
wrong hand drive or something, though with the American Civil Juries doing
their social engineering thing Stateside I'm surprised the NA auto makers
are timid about anything across the pond(s)  ). (for some strange reason
not really clear to me, in many, if not all, NA jurisdictions it is
unlawful to park facing the wrong way...why? the car ain't moving, surely
it's just as straightforward to miss a parked car either way, difficult
though that seems to be for some people's children).

Ackshully, it's purely a matter of preference whether you want a better
view of the edge of the road or oncoming traffic. Before '68 (guessing
wildly here) the Swedes drove on the left with left hand drive because
before traffic got really heavy it was infinitely preferable to be able to
guess at where the edge of the snowy road was than to know when Lars or
Olaf was heading your way. Being the socially responsible types that
Scandinavians tend to be, the Swedes switched sides one day with minimal
problems and typically Nordic efficiency (those Swedes really care about
each other's safety, check out the attitude of the emergency services and
the two major Auto makers who work hand in glove to investigate accidents,
that's why Swedish cars are so incredibly safe to drive and to crash in).
'Course, the Swedes all had the correct drive (except those radicals
driving British cars!!! looney).

It really doesn't matter which side of the road a country decides is the
right side, just so long as everybody agrees. Also, which side you drive
from is really whatever you prefer, although being unusual does get you
more than your fair share of attention. In the Great White North we choose
to drive American style, on the right except on gravel then down the middle
until forced over by oncoming (or incoming!). One dark wintery night I
observed an elderly upright Rolls Royce being driven at an elegant pace by
a... dog?? Highly amusing, as the actual driver (sinister for sure) was
quite short and almost invisible behind the enormous steering wheel on the
wrong side of the car...Actually, it was dark, maybe the dog was driving!

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