Comments on: We Drove on the Left Side of the Road

By: e.a.f.

e.a.f. — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 21:41:21 +0000

Thank you for the great picture!
Didn’t know about the driving on the “wrong” side of the road. Do remember getting on the trams though, in the 1950s.

By: Tim Sandberg

Tim Sandberg — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 04:13:29 +0000

I knew about the change over in driving but I hadn’t thought about the whole change of habit in keeping to the right rather than the left. I’ve been to Australia and the UK among others and I know how confusing that can be!

By: Brett Wilkie

Brett Wilkie — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 01:47:11 +0000

Thanks for the good read, it is funny when I recall the number of times that I brought this topic up in Pub conversation with friends, some of them doubted me and hadn’t a clue that we once drove on the other side, I will be certain to forward your article to them.

By: Peter Finch

Peter Finch — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 22:50:49 +0000

Unknown to most people today, Vancouver once drove on the left side of the road. Of course, back in 1922, that didn’t matter too much as there weren’t that many cars on the road.
It did matter to the BC Electric Railway, which had hundreds of city streetcars to convert. It took months of preparation to outshop every streetcar that was to continue in service. Doors were cut into the right side of each car, air hoses were prepared, and panels were prepared for rapid change.
Amazingly, it all went off without a hitch. Old streetcars had their last hurrah in the days preceding the changeover, after which they were dismantled for useable parts or became service vehicles.
Gradually, the whole fleet was outshopped again, this time to remove temporary panels placed over the left-side doors, and a program of modernization was undertaken. The final stage of the process started in 1925, when the livery was changed from dark green to tomato red and cream, which many of us would recognize from colour photographs.
What about the automobiles? Apparently, there was only one reported fender-bender.
One story I heard while leading a history walk was that there was a collision involving a horse, who died because it had not read the memo. While I have yet to verify that story, the fact that it is told at all strongly suggests the concerns of everyday people, and I think that is admirable.