Left and right hand drive
A right-hand drive vehicle is a multi-lane motor vehicle that is designed for left-hand traffic because the steering wheel is on the right-hand side. Accordingly, a vehicle for right- hand traffic is called a left-hand drive . In sales advertisements, especially for British classic cars, the abbreviations LHD (Left Hand Drive) for left-hand drive in continental Europe or RHD (Right Hand Drive) for right-hand drive in countries with traffic on the left-hand side of the road, such as Used in the UK. These abbreviations can also be found on vehicle parts that are different for left-hand and right-hand drive vehicles, e.g. B. Headlights or exterior mirrors.
Markets and manufacturers of right-hand drive vehicles
The market for left-hand drive vehicles is much larger than that for right-hand drive vehicles. The share of right-hand drive people in global vehicle production is only 25%. Nonetheless, in 2003 Daihatsu launched a right-hand drive roadster on the German market: the Daihatsu Copen .
The largest markets are Great Britain , Australia , Japan , India and South Africa , in which, apart from Australia, the largest manufacturers of right-hand drive vehicles are also located. The right-hand drive market is too small to be able to offer all models in this version. The manufacturers in the right-hand drive markets often also build left-hand drive vehicles for export. The overproduction of right-hand drive vehicles in the Japanese auto industry is also reaching left-hand drive markets, for example in the Far East of Russia or Armenia .
Right-hand drive in right-hand traffic in continental Europe
Right-hand drive people are common in right-hand traffic when the vehicle driver can better monitor the vehicle's purpose with a seated position at the roadside, such as road sweepers or vehicles that are used on mountain roads. Right-hand drive vehicles are also used for safety reasons if the driver has to get off the delivery service frequently or is disabled.
Right-hand drive in left-hand traffic
(see also list of countries )
In almost all countries, vehicles have the steering wheel on the side of the middle of the road so that the driver can see the road better. After the switch from left-hand to right-hand traffic in Sweden in 1967 ( Dagen H ), where the vehicles were already left-hand drive, there were actually significantly fewer collisions between cars and between cars and pedestrians. However, since the accident rate returned to the old level after two years, it is also assumed that this was due to the fact that driving more carefully immediately after the changeover.
Import restrictions
For safety reasons, some countries have prohibited the sale or import of vehicles with the steering wheel on the opposite side according to the traffic laws in that country. Other countries, including Germany, do not require any conversion, but at least a conversion of the vehicle headlights so that oncoming traffic is not dazzled.
However, many gray imports from Japan (left-hand traffic) to countries with right-hand traffic such as Russia or Peru were converted from right-hand to left-hand drive vehicles beforehand.
The following rules apply in detail:
- Afghanistan : In Afghanistan there is right-hand traffic, but vehicles from Japan with the steering wheel on the right-hand side are imported en masse . Therefore, a punitive tariff is levied on right-hand drive vehicles.
- Australia : In Australia (left-hand traffic) this is the case for left-hand drive cars that are not classic cars . Those who import such vehicles have to spend considerable sums in order to convert them to right-hand drive.
- Cambodia : Cambodia (right-hand traffic) has banned the use of right-hand drive vehicles , mostly smuggled from Thailand , since 2001, although they accounted for 80% of the country's vehicles. The government threatened to confiscate all of these vehicles if they were not converted into left-hand drive vehicles - despite the considerable cost of doing so. According to a BBC report, the conversion there cost between 600 and 2000 US dollars, with an average per capita income of less than 1000 US dollars a year.
- New Zealand : In New Zealand (left-hand traffic), left-hand drive vehicles may be imported privately and driven locally with permission. Since 1999 only left-hand drive cars that are more than 20 years old or cars that have been owned and driven for at least 90 days may be imported privately.
- Russia : Although there is right-hand drive in Russia , right-hand drive vehicles imported from Japan are popular because of their low price, which is often well below prices for left-hand drive vehicles in the same car class. It is estimated that there are more than 1.5 million right-hand drive people in Russia; in the Far Eastern regions around Vladivostok and Khabarovsk they even make up 90% of all vehicles, but can already be found in significant numbers in Novosibirsk . This includes not only private vehicles, but also police vehicles, ambulances and other government and administrative vehicles. A significant proportion comes from the Japanese used car market.
- In the Far East there were even suggestions to switch to left-hand traffic, which the government rejected. In the spring of 2005, rumors surfaced that right-hand drive cars should be banned, which sparked violent protests. On July 4, 2005, the Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko finally announced that right-hand drive vehicles would remain permitted, but that all safety requirements would have to be met.
- South Africa : In South Africa (left-hand traffic), left-hand drive vehicles have no longer been allowed to be imported since 2004. Vehicles that were registered in the country before July 23, 2004 may continue to be traded and operated.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The future of the Australian car industry - once the factories close. Retrieved July 26, 2015 .
- ↑ Renault Talisman Revealed, But It's Not For Australia. Retrieved July 26, 2015 .
- ^ Motor industry told end RHD fixation and export more. Retrieved July 26, 2015 .
- ↑ Why Armenians love right-hand drive people so much. (No longer available online.) In: PS. Archived from the original on July 10, 2015 ; Retrieved July 26, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Cambodia bans right-hand drive cars . In: BBC . January 1, 2001 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed July 26, 2015]).
