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Did you know? Hungary introduced right-hand traffic 80 years ago
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Nowadays, it is strange if someone sees a car, for example, from England on the streets of Hungary where the wheel is on the right-hand side of the vehicle. However, this was not always the case. Vehicles had to circulate on the left-hand side of the streets until 1941, even in Hungary. Why did that change? Details below.
According to Pesti Srácok, countries chose right-hand traffic one after the other after WWI. It started with Soviet Russia right after the war, and in the 1930s, all of Hungary’s neighbours opted for that system.
Interestingly, in 1941, Hungary was the last but one. Only Sweden introduced right-hand traffic later, in 1967.
Officially, in Hungary, drivers had to commute on the right-hand side of the streets after July 6, 1941.
However, the change was not implemented in Budapest where the rule was introduced only on November 9.
Based on Pesti Srácok, nobody knows the reasons why people used to commute on the left-hand side. Many say that it is a Roman heritage. Others claim that the right hand had to be free to hold a sword and fight, so people went on the left-hand side of the streets.
The first ruler who introduced right-hand traffic was Napoleon I. However, the rule applied only to public roads. That is why in France, the railway commutes on the left side.
76 countries in the world currently drive on the left, including India, the world’s second most populous country. It is not just England. It is generally thought that this began with horsemen (and later coachmen) being generally right handed and needing their right hand to hold a weapon while holding the reins with their left. Perfectly logical. Driving on the right was a nonsense deriving from from the French aristocracy much later.