List of Countries that use Right and Left-Hand Traffic

Right-hand traffic (RHT) and Left-hand traffic (LHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow and are sometimes referred to as the rule of the road.

• In Right-hand traffic (RHT) jurisdictions, vehicles are configured with Left Hand Drive (LHD), with the steering wheel on the left side.
• In Left-hand traffic (LHT) jurisdictions, vehicles are configured with Right Hand Drive (RHD), with the steering wheel on the right side.

RHT is used in 165 countries and territories, with the remaining 75 countries and territories using LHT.

Many LHT countries were formerly part of the British Empire, although many were not, such as Sweden (which is now RHT), Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Suriname, among others. Conversely, many RHT countries were part of the French colonial empire.

In LHT traffic keeps left, and cars usually have the steering wheel on the right (RHD – right-hand drive), putting the driver on the side closest to the centre of the road. Roundabouts circulate clockwise.

RHT is the opposite of this: traffic keeps right, cars usually have the steering wheel on the left (LHD), and roundabouts circulate anticlockwise.

Right-hand traffic in Nigeria

Nigeria adopted the Right-hand traffic (RHT), and as such, vehicles in Nigeria have the steering wheel on the left.

On Sunday, April 2, 1972, the Federal Military Government of Nigeria abandoned the left-hand drive to the right-hand drive.

The change was due to the fact that Nigeria was surrounded by Francophone countries who had always been on the right-hand drive; the Republic of Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.

Then, their drivers used Nigeria’s ports and borders while Nigerian drivers delivered goods to those countries with much confusion. It made much sense to make that change.

For instance, if you wanted to drive from Lagos to Lome (Togo), you had to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road. Changing to the left simply made the journey easy. That was why Ghana had to change as well.

The entire West African region is dominated by the Francophone countries and the need for a seamless transportation and business flow triggered the change.

Second, most cheap and affordable cars in vogue then were made in France (Renault, Peugeot) and Germany (Volkswagen) which were designed for right-hand drive roads.

It would be an expensive process to convert them.

Traffic for Rail, Boats and Aircrafts

In most countries, rail traffic travels on the same side as road traffic. However, in many cases, railways were built using LHT British technology and, while road traffic switched to RHT, rail remained LHT.

Examples include Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Egypt, France, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Laos, Monaco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Boats are traditionally piloted from starboard to facilitate priority to the right.

According to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, water traffic is effectively Right-hand traffic (Left Hand Drive): a vessel proceeding along a narrow channel must keep to starboard (the right-hand side), and when two power-driven vessels are meeting head-on both must alter course to starboard also.

For aircraft, the US Federal Aviation Regulations suggest Right-hand traffic (Left Hand Drive) principles, both in the air and on water, and in aircraft with side-by-side cockpit seating, the pilot-in-command (or more senior flight officer) traditionally occupies the left seat.

Right-hand Traffic (Left-Hand Drive) Countries

1. Albania
2. Algeria
3. American Samoa
4. Andorra
5. Angola
6. Argentina
7. Armenia
8. Aruba
9. Austria
10. Azerbaijan
11. Bahrain
12. Belarus
13. Belgium
14. Belize
15. Benin
16. Bolivia
17. Bosnia and Herzegovina
18. Brazil
19. British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego García)
20. Bulgaria
21. Burkina Faso
22. Burundi
23. Cambodia
24. Cameroon
25. Canada
26. Cape Verde
27. Central African Republic
28. Chad
29. Chile
30. China, People’s Republic of (Mainland China)
31. Colombia
32. Comoros
33. Congo
34. Congo (former Republic of Zaire)
35. Costa Rica
36. Croatia
37. Cuba
38. Czech Republic
39. Denmark
40. Djibouti
41. Dominican Republic
42. Ecuador
43. Egypt
44. El Salvador
45. Equatorial Guinea
46. Eritrea
47. Estonia
48. Ethiopia
49. Faroe Islands (Denmark)
50. Finland
51. France
52. French Guiana
53. French Polynesia
54. Gabon
55. Gambia, The
56. Gaza Strip
57. Georgia
58. Germany
59. Ghana
60. Gibraltar
61. Greece
62. Greenland
63. Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
64. Guam
65. Guatemala
66. Guinea
67. Guinea-Bissau
68. Haiti
69. Honduras
70. Hungary
71. Iceland
72. Iran
73. Iraq
74. Israel
75. Italy
76. Ivory Coast
77. Jordan
78. Kazakhstan
79. Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of (North Korea)
80. Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
81. Kuwait
82. Kyrgyzstan
83. Laos
84. Latvia
85. Lebanon
86. Liberia
87. Libya
88. Liechtenstein
89. Lithuania
90. Luxembourg
91. Macedonia
92. Madagascar
93. Mali
94. Marshall Islands
95. Martinique (French West Indies)
96. Mauritania
97. Mayotte (France)
98. Mexico
99. Micronesia, Federated States of
100. Midway Islands (USA)
101. Moldova
102. Monaco
103. Mongolia
104. Morocco
105. Myanmar (formerly Burma)
106. Netherlands
107. Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba)
108. New Caledonia
109. Nicaragua
110. Niger
111. Nigeria
112. Northern Mariana Islands
113. Norway
114. Oman
115. Palau
116. Panama
117. Paraguay
118. Peru
119. Philippines
120. Poland
121. Portugal
122. Puerto Rico
123. Qatar
124. Réunion
125. Romania
126. Russia
127. Rwanda
128. Saint Barthélemy (French West Indies)
129. Saint Martin (French West Indies)
130. Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
131. Samoa
132. San Marino
133. Sao Tome and Principe
134. Saudi Arabia
135. Senegal
136. Serbia and Montenegro
137. Sierra Leone
138. Slovakia
139. Slovenia
140. Somalia
141. Spain
142. Sudan
143. Svalbard (Norway)
144. Sweden
145. Switzerland
146. Syria
147. Taiwan
148. Tajikistan
149. Togo
150. Tunisia
151. Turkey
152. Turkmenistan
153. Ukraine
154. United Arab Emirates
155. United States
156. Uruguay
157. Uzbekistan
158. Vanuatu
159. Venezuela
160. Vietnam
161. Wake Island (USA)
162. Wallis and Futuna Islands (France)
163. Western Sahara
164. Yemen

Left-hand Traffic (Right-Hand Drive) Countries

1. Anguilla
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Australia
4. Bahamas
5. Bangladesh
6. Barbados
7. Bermuda
8. Bhutan
9. Botswana
10. Brunei
11. Cayman Islands
12. Christmas Island (Australia)
13. Cook Islands
14. Cyprus
15. Dominica
16. East Timor
17. Falkland Islands
18. Fiji
19. Grenada
20. Guernsey (Channel Islands)
21. Guyana
22. Hong Kong
23. India
24. Indonesia
25. Ireland
26. Isle of Man
27. Jamaica
28. Japan
29. Jersey (Channel Islands)
30. Kenya
31. Kiribati
32. Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)
33. Lesotho
34. Macau
35. Malawi
36. Malaysia
37. Maldives
38. Malta
39. Mauritius
40. Montserrat
41. Mozambique
42. Namibia
43. Nauru
44. Nepal
45. New Zealand
46. Niue
47. Norfolk Island (Australia)
48. Pakistan
49. Papua New Guinea
50. Pitcairn Islands (Britain)
51. Saint Helena
52. Saint Kitts and Nevis
53. Saint Lucia
54. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
55. Seychelles
56. Singapore
57. Solomon Islands
58. South Africa
59. Sri Lanka
60. Suriname
61. Swaziland
62. Tanzania
63. Thailand
64. Tokelau (New Zealand)
65. Tonga
66. Trinidad and Tobago
67. Turks and Caicos Islands
68. Tuvalu
69. Uganda
70. United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
71. Virgin Islands (British)
72. Virgin Islands (US)
73. Zambia
74. Zimbabwe

REFERENCES:

• https://www.thehistoryville.com/nigeria-left-hand-drive-right-hand-drive
• https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic

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