"Right Hand Drive". So you sit on the right side seat of your car and drive, instead of on the left. And you drive on the left side of the road. After a while, you’ll get used to it, big deal, right? Dead wrong! That’s just the easy part. Here’s what you encounter when you actually do it, read through carefully and try to imagine it the next time you are in your car.
The stick shift is on your left hand. The wipers go from left to right. Weird, eh! The turn indicator is on the right side of the steering wheel. The wiper controls are on the left side. So when you have to take a last minute turn, the wipers start going crazy and everyone is honking at you. Overtaking is from the right side. It gets worse…
What happens if you end up in a traffic circle? They are confusing enough to begin with. Now, you have to go clockwise around them! That kills me every time. It is like you have been left-handed all your life; and suddenly one day you are thrust into a world that is entirely right-handed.
It’s not just driving. How about walking down a corridor or an aisle? Keep to the left side because people are walking towards you on the right side! And when you get to a door, open the left half! Or you’ll end up bashing an innocent someone’s nose in when he’s on the other side of the right half. While crossing the road, the kerb drill is in reverse. "Look right, look left, look right, then cross the road". Try it in America, and you are sure to get killed.
Apparently the first line of Suzuki cars that hit the Indian market had a big problem: The keyhole to lock the door was on the passenger side! It took them a year to figure out what went wrong with the marketing forecasts. The "New and Improved" version of the cars the next year had locks on both doors instead.
"Right Hand Drive" is a lifestyle, not just a way to drive. Get right on it, or get left behind!
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