(State automotive inspectors) The Benefits of Left Hand Drive Cars
No commentsBy Daniel Millions
When you are left handed, you are simply used to looking at the world through a right-handed person’s eyes. Everything has been created with them in mind. However, left handed people do make up approximately ten percent of the world’s population. That’s a lot of left-handers out there, trying to deal with this righthanded world. Left-handed people are also likely to have high I.Q.s, so they have become quite smart at adapting to the world. One of the biggest adaptations is the automobile.
However, many automobile manufacturers are responding to the needs of left-handed people and are creating left-handed cars. These left-handed cars are quite popular with this segment of the population. For those of us who are right handed, think for a moment if everything in your car was set up in the exact reverse position that it was. That you were expected to make at times split second decisions with your nondominent hand. This is a very difficult and frustrating position to put anyone in.
Some of the most popular left-handed cars include Ford, BMW, Volkswagen and Nissan. These automobile manufacturers have created a number of models with a left-handed version. For Ford these include: Ford Focus, Ford Galaxy and Ford Fusion. For BMW these include: BMW 118, BMW 320, BMW M5. For Volkswagen these include: Volkswagen Eos, Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen New Beetle. For Nissan these include: Nissan Almera, Nissan Murano, Nissan Pathfinder. One can easily see that left handed people can now own a luxury car, a mid-sized car, a moderately priced car and a car that is very safety conscious. It is ideal that left-handed drivers are offered great choices for their automobiles. Left handed drivers can choose many popular cars that we know and love to drive, for all of the popular reasons that other drivers select them.
One might think that offering left-handed cars might reduce the number of accidents. When someone is forced to drive with their non-dominant hand, this must be challenging. At times, this could be the cause of a great safety risk, when someone reaches for something with their dominant hand that is in the “wrong” place for the right-handed car. Now with the left-handed car, the left-handed driver is put in a great position of control.
Before the left-handed car, left-handed drivers must have gotten used to driving in right-handed cars. Left-handed people are simply forced to adapt at many times and situations. This is commonplace when you are not the majority of a group. The majority of the group makes decisions that affect everyone. Now having left handed cars may also boost the confidence of left-handed people. Having a car created just for them recognizes their needs and requirements. It no longer forces them to adapt, they can drive comfortably with their dominant hand in the “right” (correct) place.
Left-handed cars are ideal for many reasons. Hopefully they will encourage even more adaptations for left-handed people. Left handed people deserve to have gadgets and tools that are specifically designed for their needs. Left-handed cars are part of the wave of the future.
Oakleaf a European import car dealer supplies a full range of left hand drive cars also know as Lhd cars.
The Right Side Of The Road Isn’t Always The Correct One
By Daniel Millions
When most people hear about cars driving on the left side of the road, they associate this unique driving situation to all of Europe. However, driving on the left side of the road is mostly a British custom. The rest of Europe drives on the right side of the side, while many of the former British colonies follow their original law. Some of the other countries driving on the left side of the road is most of southern Africa, Japan, and Australia. About one-third of the world population drives on the left side of the road.
Why is it that in some countries you drive on the left side of the road, and in other countries you drive on the right side of the road? Originally, in ancient times, nearly all of the countries traveled on the left side of the roadway. However, once Napoleon began conquering the world, he required that his new countries conform to his homeland France and travel on the right side of the road.
In most cases, the differences between left and right handed driving cars are completely symmetrical. In cars the drive on the right side of the road, the driver’s seat and steering wheel are on the left side. On the other hand, the driver’s seat is position on the right side of vehicles in countries where the law is to drive on the left side of the road. Similarly, passing, turns against oncoming traffic, and traffic signs all take part of the opposite side of the road.
When talking about the flow of traffic, drivers in the United States drive in “right-hand traffic.” However, they drive “left-hand vehicles.” It’s a very important to distinguish the difference. These terms are quite easy to confuse with each other. An uninformed driver could create an unfortunate accident, so it’s important to take special notice in areas the law may be different.
Typically, it’s not possible to license a car that is orientated incorrectly. Aside from tourists, it’s illegal to drive a car that’s built for the wrong side of the road. An exception to this are many countries where the driving law has recently been changed. In many cases, incorrectly orientated cars are not only illegal to drive, but also illegal to sell. The exception to this law is when the vehicle is considered an antique or exotic car.
There are a couple exceptions and interesting scenarios that may take place due to this law. One exception to the law is the postal service. In the United States, the steering wheel placed on the right side, and the vehicle drives on both sides of the road as it delivers the mail and packages. Garbage trucks, road cleaners, and law enforcement vehicles are also allowed to drive against the regular flow of traffic when considered necessary. Another fascinating conflict with that comes with opposite lanes of driving is traveling through foreign countries. In some scenarios, it may be required to switch back and forth between lanes.
For most people, driving on the correct side of the road isn’t too big of a challenge. However, it’s certainly an interesting bit of trivia and is definitely important information for world travelers. You never know when you may find yourself driving down the roads of Australia, or crossing the border from France into the United Kingdom.
Oakleaf a European import car dealer supplies a full range of left hand drive cars also know as Lhd cars.
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Learn About Left Hand Drive Car Conversions
By Daniel Millions
For the people around the globe who live in right hand drive (rhd) areas, finding a left hand drive (lhd) car can be very difficult if not impossible. Some dealers specialize in importing left hand drive cars to sell to consumers but this is quite rare. For the most part a left hand drive car is just an oddity to people who don’t drive them.
In fact, many people only see left hand drive cars in movies that are based in the parts of the world where they are driven. Some car manufactures don’t even make left hand drive cars or if they do, the quantity is very limited or only sold in certain areas. However, companies such as Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Lexus and Audi usually produce both left and right hand drive cars for most of their makes and models.
Once you have found a left hand car dealer you will need to do some extensive research into the cars history to ensure quality. Was the car manufactured to be a left hand drive car, or was it converted into one? If it was converted it’s best to question your dealer about the process and inquire about future repairs. Changing a right hand drive car over to the left side doesn’t necessarily mean that the car is somehow defective. Since the car has undergone a major change, it could have a negative impact on the car if it wasn’t done properly.
Just as with any car repair, improper work will only lead to spending more on repairs down the line. Even a brand new car that has been converted may show problems. Technically, the car isn’t even considered brand new any longer once the conversion has taken place. Some cars simply can’t be converted and forcing a conversion is very unethical but this does take place to some degree.
The most important thing is to have the car tested out by a third party mechanic using the standard diagnostic test that normal cars go through. Failing to do so could lead you to purchase a car that is unsafe for the road. The 1993 Jeep Cherokee Utility left hand drives were recalled due to defects and safety concerns and so have many other models.
Other things you need to be aware of when selecting a left hand drive car is the cost of maintaining your car. If your car is an import or contains parts imported, you should be prepared to spend more money on the cars maintenance then you would on regular cars. Just as with anything imported for another area you should be prepared for limited availability, higher cost and possibly extended periods of time for the parts to arrive.
Individuals should select left hand drive cars by first reviewing the car dealer’s website and then researching the cars history, while reading the car owner’s manual. Car manuals give full detailed information and specifications about the car and they normally state clearly if the car was made to be converted.
Whether you plan on importing a left hand drive car or getting a right hand drive car converted, your main concern should be safety. Aside from safety issues you will also have to contend with inflated cost and part availability. The best advice I could give to anyone on this subject would be to thoroughly research everything about the car and the dealer you plan to purchase it from.
Oakleaf a European import car dealer supplies a full range of left hand drive cars also know as Lhd cars.
Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 2:20 am and is filed under automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
