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I know some countries such as UK has the steering wheels of their cars on the right side. But as we can see, most of the Europian countries uses it at the opposite side. Since I used to drive a car with left-steering wheel I found it impossible to drive a car with right-steer!

Not curiosity, but I am trying to map if this issue is related to User Experience or not.

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    What research have you done into this issue before asking this question here?
    – JonW ♦
    Dec 1, 2016 at 12:45
  • There are usability reasons for having it on one side or the other, if that is what you want to know. But if you are asking "if anybody have the skill to drive in both sides" then it probably is off-topic.
    – Alvaro
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:14
  • I've put this on hold. Not only because it's a very easily found question, but because of the comment stating you're looking for 'personal experience'.
    – JonW ♦
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:43
  • which comment !?
    – Krebto
    Dec 1, 2016 at 13:53
  • That would be the comment that you deleted where you stated: "I am asking about personal experience if anybody have the skill to drive in both sides". As a moderator here I get overview of comments that get deleted (I can also get visibility of a lot of other actions that users carry out...)
    – JonW ♦
    Dec 1, 2016 at 16:38

1 Answer 1

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The steering wheel is on the side closest to the center of the road so the driver can see the opposite-direction cars better.

Countries that drive on the right have the steering wheel on the left and vice versa.

Now, about why some countries drive on the left and why others on the right, there seems to be reasons for both of them. You have several cases in this link.

For example:

(...) in an LHD car with manual transmission, the driver has the right hand, which for most people is dominant, on the steering wheel at all times and uses the left hand to change gears and operate most other controls.

With or without legal rule, traditionally the left side was used for carriages.

(...)

even though virtually all the cars on the road in Sweden were LHD. One argument for this was that it was necessary to keep an eye on the edge of the road, something that was important on the narrow roads in use at the time.

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  • Is it possible to manage and drive in both of them ? I hope that drivers have to do some procedures with the driving licence before being able to drive in both sides.
    – Krebto
    Dec 1, 2016 at 12:34
  • Yes, in my country we drive on the right side. With an international driving license, which can be obtained filling some forms, drivers can drive in some countries where the traffic is on the left. It is, however not very easy at first, I tried once and ended up activating the cleaning of the front glass every time I wanted to indicate a turn (as controls are mirrored).
    – Alvaro
    Dec 1, 2016 at 12:39
  • The right hand is connected to the left side of the brain, which is best at logical / sequential / verbal tasks in most people. The left hand connects to the right brain, which is superior at visual / spatial /movement tasks. Thus, the left hand is the right one to steer with, and the right hand can do the sequential / timing task of gear-shifting. (2016: Gear shifting?) Or, the turn signal, as the case may be.
    – user67695
    Jan 9, 2017 at 17:09

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