Side of the road

by **Lenzar** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:47 pm

Why are all the cars driving on the wrong side (ie the right) in scenes set in the UK?

by **Doc Denim** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:40 am

Hmmm - hadn't noticed that, but I'm from the other side of the pond where that's a normal and correct thing to do. My best guess is that the world of 2068 has globally 'standardized' traffic rules. (But the skeptic in me figures that it's like Colonel White always saying 'loo-tenant' - perhaps it's another concession to marketing NCS in North America...)

Doc Denim

Website · by **Sage** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:10 pm

Ah never notice that.

I was, however, always amazed that whenever there was an SPV around all the other verchiles disappeared.

by **chrisbishop** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:59 pm

Seeing the way Scarlet drive, wouldn't you give him some space!? :twisted:

Website · by **Sage** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:07 pm

LOL
Yup, good point

by **retrometabilized_duck** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:43 pm

Doc Denim wrote:that it's like Colonel White always saying 'loo-tenant' - perhaps it's another concession to marketing NCS in North America...)

Doc Denim

oooo first time quoting. if you think thats a weird way of saying lieutenant i miss the T's so its lootenun' and water becomes wa'er.

never can i say funny right i say thunny instead. oops i gone completely off the topic. sorry kids.
retrometabilized_duck

by **Maltray** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:52 pm

chrisbishop wrote:Seeing the way Scarlet drive, wouldn't you give him some space!?

LOL Scarlet can have all the room he wants! Scarlet and his driving is kind of much like James Bond. Both are dangerous to know and bound to wreck the veichle! :-D

by **DartBrat701** » Mon May 08, 2006 1:12 am

Lenzar wrote:Why are all the cars driving on the wrong side (ie the right) in scenes set in the UK?

I guess for the same reason why they're steering on the left, instead of the right.

by **Prismatic Avatar** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:03 pm

Oooh, I know this one! <quick preen> It was asked at one of the conventions and apparently Gerry Anderson had decided that by the time of Captain Scarlet, the side of the road that you drove on would have been standardised and the British would have given way. It seems we are in the minority so it would be easier for us to conform rather than the other way.

However, I think some kind of general bulletin goes out when Scarlet is let loose on the road. Is it a coincidence, I wonder, that Lt Green is always at the communications board whenever he leaves Cloudbase???

by **Elentari** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:06 am

Well the British haven't given way - and neither have the Aussies.

2068 is not that far away...but it's probably long enough for those other countries to fall into line with us... :lol:

by **DartBrat701** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:56 pm

Well that may be, perhaps. But I don't expect that it would happen here in the States, anytime soon! :lol:

by **Marion** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:11 pm

I thought this might be interesting - you might not agree :wink:

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; but there is a perfectly good reason.
In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.
Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left). It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.
In the late 1700s teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver's seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.
The French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. Before the Revolution, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille, aristocrats joined the peasants on the right. An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794.
Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and parts of Spain and Italy.
The states that had resisted Napoleon kept left.
The trend over the years has been towards driving on the right, but Britain has done its best to stave off global homogenisation. Left-hand driving was made mandatory in 1835. Countries which were part of the British Empire followed suit. This is why to this day, India, Australasia and former British colonies in Africa go left.
Although Japan was never part of the British Empire, its traffic also goes to the left. The origin of this goes back to the Edo period (1603-1867) when Samurai ruled the country, but it wasn’t until 1872 that this unwritten rule became official.
In the early years of English colonisation of North America, the colonies drove on the left. After independence, they were anxious to cast off all remaining links with their colonial past and gradually changed to right-hand driving. The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, and similar laws were passed in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813.
Despite the developments in the US, some parts of Canada continued to drive on the left until shortly after the Second World War. The territory controlled by the French (from Quebec to Louisiana) drove on the right, but the territory occupied by the English (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) kept left. British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces switched to the right in the 1920s in order to conform with the rest of Canada and the USA. Newfoundland drove on the left until 1947.

Taken from:
http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/ ... tm#history

It has been going on for so long I doubt it will change much in the next 50 years!

by **Prismatic Avatar** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:16 pm

That was extremely interesting. While I knew the reason behind the left-hand driving in Britain (ooh, swords! Sharp-pointy things! Wheee!), I didn't know the reason behind the right-hand driving in the other countries.

Myself, I'd prefer it if we kept both versions. I get a little tired of Life being standardised in all its forms.

Besides, it would make such a delicious scene when the Captains from different countries start swearing over not only having to drive backwards, but on the wrong side of the bloody road! :-D

by **Marion** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:51 pm

Prismatic Avatar wrote:

Besides, it would make such a delicious scene when the Captains from different countries start swearing over not only having to drive backwards, but on the wrong side of the bloody road!

So it would! Mind you - doesn't matter which side they drive on most of the time as the roads are totally devoid of traffic - I expect the warning went out - Scarlet's driving!