Ireland, Driving On Right Hand Side Of Road

old_aussie · 02-10-2010 12:02pm #1

Ireland being part of the EU, will Ireland change over to driving on the right hand side of the road?

mink_man · 02-10-2010 12:03pm

it's something I think about every day.

token56 · 02-10-2010 12:03pm

Alot of people here can bearly drive on the left hand side, I wouldn't like to think about what would happen if we switched sides.

Aswerty · 02-10-2010 12:04pm

I'd assume it's all entirely dependent on what the UK does.

Iwasfrozen · 02-10-2010 12:04pm

Jesus no, why should we?

changes · 02-10-2010 12:05pm

we've been in the EU since 73 and haven't changed yet. UK is also part of he EU and they won't change either.

I'd like to be driving on the right, could import cheaper cars from spain etc then.

02-10-2010 12:05pm

That's a stupid idea. There'd be chaos and money spent on altering our already bad roads.

old_aussie · 02-10-2010 12:06pm

The idea of driving on the RH side of road was once touted in Australia.

The main argument was that cars would be cheaper and that Oz would be aligned with the "rest of the world"

phasers · 02-10-2010 12:07pm

Oh God, imagine how many people would die if that was brought in.

I actually saw some stupid bitch going round a roundabout backwards in Tallaght once. Scariest thing was she was headed towards the m50 :eek:

OutlawPete · 02-10-2010 12:08pm

No way, there are far too many rural areas in Ireland, if that were to happen, people would then have to drive along dark spooky country roads as they sat right beside the ditch.

orourkeda · 02-10-2010 12:09pm

Just a minor consideration here.

Aren't our cars configured to be driven on the left hand side of the road (i.e right hand drive).

Is it an attractive proposition to expect the entire population to replace their cars with left hand drive vehicles.

I'm sure every car dealer is probably jerking off to the prospect.

Agricola · 02-10-2010 12:10pm

Terrible idea. Mass pileups every day of the week.

old_aussie · 02-10-2010 12:14pm

Sweden changed over on Sunday, 3 September 1967

Many other countries changed over in the twentieth century.

I think it would take at least one generation, maybe two generations to become the norm.

Older people would find it harder to adapt as their natural reaction would be to go left in an emergency

Max Power1 · 02-10-2010 12:17pm

I heard this was being touted by the RSA a while ago. The mentioned switchover for cars was 1/1/12, and trucks & HGVs 6 months later if it proved successful for the car users.

orourkeda · 02-10-2010 12:17pm

Agricola wrote: »

Terrible idea. Mass pileups every day of the week.

Thankfully we only have two cars crashing into each other regularly

The Agogo · 02-10-2010 12:19pm

Spanish people are coming here to buy cheaper cars.

Japan make cheap cars....they drive on the left.

I'd assume we'd have to follow the UK to support the north changeover.

It'd be very confusing as we'd have to change ALL the road signs and markings (not to mention our cars to LHD).

Can't see it happening to be honest.

phasers · 02-10-2010 12:20pm

Max Power1 wrote: »

I heard this was being touted by the RSA a while ago. The mentioned switchover for cars was 1/1/12, and trucks & HGVs 6 months later if it proved successful for the car users.

Please be joking :eek:

Wibbs · 02-10-2010 12:20pm

Left hand drive cars IMHO are less efficient. Most people are right handed. I'd prefer to have them with their "good" hand on the wheel while the change gear. The latter doesnt require as much dexterity. *pigeons insert cat*

Anyway the driving on the right hand side is a French invention. They felt the need to be different. Roman chariots and carts were "right hand drive" and that went that way up until the 19th century and the french.

Mr. Incognito · 02-10-2010 12:20pm

I heard this was being touted by the RSA a while ago. The mentioned switchover for cars was 1/1/12, and trucks & HGVs 6 months later if it proved successful for the car users.

That made me LOL- It wouldn't surprise me

Poly · 02-10-2010 12:21pm

We could phase it in gradually, start first with trucks and buses

Edit :sorry bit late with this one

The Agogo · 02-10-2010 12:21pm

Max Power1 wrote: »

I heard this was being touted by the RSA a while ago. The mentioned switchover for cars was 1/1/12, and trucks & HGVs 6 months later if it proved successful for the car users.

So in this gap period, trucks will be driving on the left and cars on the right?

hmmm...

The Agogo · 02-10-2010 12:23pm

Poly wrote: »

We could phase it in gradually, start first with trucks and buses

Edit :sorry bit late with this one

So passengers will be alighting from the bus ONTO THE ROAD!:eek:

Jesus Wept · 02-10-2010 12:23pm

[another driver is trying to alert them that they're driving on the wrong side of the highway]
Neal: He says we're going the wrong way...
Del: Oh, he's drunk. How would he know where we're going?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEZv0FUPtcc

02-10-2010 12:23pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Left hand drive cars IMHO are less efficient. Most people are right handed. I'd prefer to have them with their "good" hand on the wheel while the change gear. The latter doesnt require as much dexterity. *pigeons insert cat*

Anyway the driving on the right hand side is a French invention. They felt the need to be different. Roman chariots and carts were "right hand drive" and that went that way up until the 19th century and the french.

Lefties are people too! :mad:

phasers · 02-10-2010 12:23pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Left hand drive cars IMHO are less efficient. Most people are right handed. I'd prefer to have them with their "good" hand on the wheel while the change gear. The latter doesnt require as much dexterity. *pigeons insert cat*

I totally agree with this.

Being a leftie with a RHD car it took ages before my car stopped veering slightly whenever I changed gear. I never realised how weak my right hand was until then.

Max Power1 · 02-10-2010 12:23pm

phasers wrote: »

Please be joking :eek:

Surely it would cause chaos if they tried to change every type at the same time...

(lol, people really do believe anything written on "teh internetz"

)

Max Power1 · 02-10-2010 12:24pm

The Agogo wrote: »

So passengers will be alighting from the bus ONTO THE ROAD!:eek:

Yeah, thats the main problem. Not the head on crashes between cars and HGVs

:p

Berty · 02-10-2010 12:31pm

Bus stops on the wrong side of the road.
Doors of the bus on the wrong side of the bus.(Dublin airport Airside bus's are the other way around)
Cars are RHD.
Headlights on RHD cars face the LHD of the road so would blind cars if they were switched over.

Have you heard of Högertrafikomläggningen which is also called Dagen H.

This is where Sweden switched over from the left to right. For them it was not too hard because their cars were already LHD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

02-10-2010 12:39pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7APmG5qN5A

Definitely worth the listen, if you haven't heard it before.

The Agogo · 02-10-2010 12:40pm

Berty wrote: »

Bus stops on the wrong side of the road.
Doors of the bus on the wrong side of the bus.(Dublin airport Airside bus's are the other way around)
Cars are RHD.
Headlights on RHD cars face the LHD of the road so would blind cars if they were switched over.

Have you heard of Högertrafikomläggningen which is also called Dagen H.

This is where Sweden switched over from the left to right. For them it was not too hard because their cars were already LHD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

Not to mention that there is tenfold more traffic on our roads 43 years later.

Some African and South Asian countries have done it recently, but they didn't have much traffic. Doing it here would cause chaos.

ballsymchugh · 02-10-2010 12:40pm

samoa changed last september.

September 8, 2009, 9:44 am
In Samoa, Drivers Switch to Left Side of the Road
By RICHARD S. CHANG

If you thought it was tough going back to work this morning, imagine having the added mental burden of suddenly learning to drive on the opposite side of the road.

That’s what will happen Wednesday when the citizens of Samoa return to work after a two-day holiday, imposed for the sole purpose of helping the country switch from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the left.

The switch officially began Monday at 6 a.m. This is from The Associated Press:

As the 6 a.m. deadline approached, Police Minister Toleafoa Faafisi went on national radio to tell drivers everywhere to stop their vehicles. Minutes later, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi broadcast the formal instructions for drivers to switch sides.

When drivers resumed their journeys, horns honked, sirens wailed and church bells rang. While there was some hesitation, traffic soon flowed again with guidance from police as hundreds of onlookers who lined streets in the capital, Apia, clapped and cheered.

Samoa is the first country in 40 years to switch driving sides. One reason is that Australia and New Zealand drive on the left, and it is cheaper to import cars from those countries than from the United States and Europe.

Cars in Australia and New Zealand have their steering wheels on the right side of the car, as in Britain. For now, the Samoan government will allow cars with steering wheels on either side. The bigger issue concerns the country’s buses, whose doors are mounted on the right side, which means passengers have to board from the middle of the street.

Interestingly enough, almost 42 years ago to the day, Sweden did the same thing, except it went from the left to the right — and spent around $120 million (not adjusted) on signs and advertising to market the switch.

There was even an official name. It was called Dagen H, or H Day (the H stood for hogen, which means “right” in Swedish). From Time magazine:

Once Parliament decided to switch, Swedish bureaucracy mobilized with terrifying efficiency. Psychologists made studies of drivers and pedestrians; traffic engineers surveyed Sweden’s 70,000 miles of roadway from Malmo to remotest Lapland. Thousands of new signs and traffic lights were ordered and every home, hospital and prison received manuals detailing the 107 basic European road symbols that would replace the helter-skelter Swedish markers. To make sure foreign workers and visitors got the message, the Commission on Right-Hand Traffic printed pamphlets in nine languages from Portuguese to Serbo-Croatian.

In the final, frenetic days before H-day, the new system was explained in the press, demonstrated on film, discussed on radio and TV, and extolled by singing commercials. Stockholm’s N.K. department store reported a run on men’s shorts emblazoned with a big H, and milk containers sprouted slogans like, “Smile a little in the right-hand traffic. We are all beginners.”

This photo shows a town in Sweden during the switchover on Sept. 3, 1967. And despite the visible mess, there were no serious accidents and only a couple of minor fender benders.

mathepac · 02-10-2010 12:46pm

Berty wrote: »

Bus stops on the wrong side of the road.
Doors of the bus on the wrong side of the bus....

I think we should switch. It would solve the problem around schools where the yummies dropping off little Winifred and Winstanley insist on making them alight from the massive SUV / Hummer into the middle of busy roadway. Hello, Mrs-Pyjama-bottoms-with-an-anorak-over-the-tops, there's a door that allows your little devil offspring darlings alight from the vehicle onto the safety of the pavement. Is walking around the car to open a door going to cause your botox to melt or your plastic bits to slip or did you even know that 90% of the time these days the child-proof locks on the rear doors are electronic?

Herb Powell · 02-10-2010 12:48pm

stupid stupid stupid unnecessary
why the **** should we change when there's nothing wrong with what we have atm? it'd be the biggest waste of time, money, and resources ever

Xavi6 · 02-10-2010 12:50pm

phasers wrote: »

Please be joking :eek:

Gullible also just got removed from the dictionary

2ygb4cmqetsjhx · 02-10-2010 12:55pm

It's not broke. Don't fix it.

aDeener · 02-10-2010 1:26pm

when would it be brought in? 12 am on january 1st? as soon as mdnight strikes anyone driving wil have to swerve over to the other side of the road :pac:

Son Of A Vidic · 02-10-2010 2:13pm

A lot of drivers I meet, tend to drive in the middle of the road. So they've all ready got all the bases covered.

mike65 · 02-10-2010 2:46pm

Being right handed how could I draw my sword and smite the oncoming driver if I'm on the right hand side?

Dean820 · 02-10-2010 4:14pm

phasers wrote: »

I actually saw some stupid bitch going round a roundabout backwards in Tallaght once. Scariest thing was she was headed towards the m50 :eek:

You should have followed her to tell her she was on the wrong side of the road.:P

ScumLord · 02-10-2010 4:39pm

old_aussie wrote: »

I think it would take at least one generation, maybe two generations to become the norm.

If it takes them longer than a day to adjust it's just not going to work.

Overflow · 02-10-2010 4:50pm

We already do drive on the right hand side.....and the left

mikemac · 02-10-2010 4:59pm

Ever have scalextric as a child?
We can have scalextric style crossings at the border to Northern Ireland

On another way smaller example, the quays in Dublin city centre were once the opposite way around.
The North quays went west out of the city and the south quays went east into the city

After much planning and preparation, it was swapped on a Sunday morning.
People said it wouldn't work but it went fine

Thomas828 · 02-10-2010 6:41pm

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Jesus no, why should we?

+1. It might make sense if we were part of a continent, but Britain and Ireland are islands. We don't have to adopt every aspect of European life.

It might only happen if a group of Eurocrats with too much time on their hands pass a decree. And even then there'd be a heck of a lot of resistance both from the UK and Ireland. Look at how long it's taken the UK to adopt the metric system.

ballsymchugh · 02-10-2010 6:52pm

Thomas828 wrote: »

+1. It might make sense if we were part of a continent, but Britain and Ireland are islands. We don't have to adopt every aspect of European life.

It might only happen if a group of Eurocrats with too much time on their hands pass a decree. And even then there'd be a heck of a lot of resistance both from the UK and Ireland. Look at how long it's taken taking the UK to adopt the metric system.

they're still mulling over it!

limklad · 02-10-2010 7:43pm

Simple solution is to turn every road and street into one way system, then left hand or right hand cars/vehicles can still drive here without any issues. It will reduce head on collisions. That just leave 80% of others collisions we have every year.

Irishmarinelife · 02-10-2010 7:57pm

token56 wrote: »

Alot of people here can bearly drive on the left hand side, I wouldn't like to think about what would happen if we switched sides.

Nothing wrong with bearly driving on the left hand side

DingChavez · 02-10-2010 8:36pm

No, Ireland and Britain should make the EU to drive on the left.

JayeL · 02-10-2010 9:05pm

Islands need a damn good reason to switch, given there's no awkward border switches. Samoa wanted cheaper cars from Oz, Okinawa wanted to get in line with the rest of Japan, Newfoundland ditto with Canada.

Ireland has a border with another RHD country, so there is no reason to switch. If someone can think of one other than "wouldn't it be nice?", I'd be all ears!

Fratton Fred · 02-10-2010 10:01pm

mike65 wrote: »

Being right handed how could I draw my sword and smite the oncoming driver if I'm on the right hand side?

Exactly, which is why driving on the left is the obvious thing to do.

KevR · 02-10-2010 10:17pm

DingChavez wrote: »

No, Ireland and Britain should make the EU to drive on the left.

+1

I'm not going to go looking for a link but it's supposedly safer to drive on the left because most people are right handed (good hand on the wheel/controlling the car while changing gear instead of the other way around).

Also, I think that driving on the left feels more natural. On multi-lane roads we keep left and overtake on the right; it's sort like how we read left-to-right. Driving on the right and overtaking on the left seems so unnatural IMO.

Stinicker · 02-10-2010 10:30pm

This will never happen beleive me! The costs would be astronomical and encase anyone hasn't noticed we are bankrupt as a nation.

On the plus side at least some of the morons on the Motorway would be in the driving lane for once instead of hogging the overtaking lane at 90km/h in their crappy Micras.

It won't happen but if it did I would adapt easily as I have driven in Germany with absolute ease and about 5mins out of the Airport I was cruising at 200km/h on the Autobahn and that was my first time ever driving on the other side of the road.

Driving on the left with RHD car is easy

Driving on the right with a LHD is easy

A RHD in Europe or a LHD here is a son of a beach as you tend to drift over.

If it did happen I might eventually be able to master manuals with my right hand as my left hand is useless and I drive an Auto instead!

Ireland, Driving On Right Hand Side Of Road

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