History of Driving in Ireland

Hiring a car is the easiest way to to get to and from Dublin Airport, but some people. never drove a right hand drive car before. You might think it is uncomfortable or even dangerous. Don’t be afraid. It’s actually easier than you think. Here are a few tips on driving your rental car on the Irish roads.

One of Ireland’s Senator suggested Irish motorist should drive on the right side of the road to facilitate tourists and foreigners when they drive on Irish roads.

I admit that his idea made me thinking. A couple of questions came to my mind, like, "Did European countries always drive on the left ? "
"Did everybody drive on the left and later switched to right-hand traffic?"
"Why and when did it happen?"

Let’s check out the history of right- and left-hand traffic in Europe and overseas.
In the past, almost the whole world traveled on the left side of the road. It was more convenient for a right-handed person to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, especially if he wore a sword.

Later, Napoleon spread the right-hand traffic all over Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy. Probably because he was left-handed and he wanted to be different than the English.

Although Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal had resisted. The division between left- and right-hand nations remained until after the First World War. England and France founded many colonies, which had to follow the rules of London or Paris. England had its influence i.e. in Australia, India, Kenya, Indonesia and New Guinea. Congo, Vietnam, Spain, Portugal, South- and Central America and parts of Africa had to follow France’s right-hand traffic.