How many countries drive on the left?

Approximately 76 countries and territories drive on the left (left-hand traffic, LHT). They make up about 35% of all nations but account for roughly a third of the world's road network by length, partly because large countries such as Australia, India, and the United Kingdom are LHT.

Why do some countries drive on the left?

The left-hand rule traces back to horse-riding conventions where a right-handed rider drew their sword on the right and passed oncoming traffic on the left for safety. Britain codified this into law and exported it to much of its empire. Right-hand traffic became dominant in continental Europe partly through Napoleonic standardisation and was later adopted across the Americas.

Which countries switched driving side and when?

Several countries have switched since the 20th century. Sweden made the most organised switch (called Dagen H) on 3 September 1967, moving from left to right overnight. Samoa switched from right to left in 2009 to align with its Pacific neighbours. Myanmar switched from left to right around 1970 under military decree.

Does the driving side affect which side the steering wheel is on?

Usually yes. In left-hand traffic countries the steering wheel is on the right of the car (right-hand drive, RHD) so the driver sits closest to the road centre. In right-hand traffic countries the wheel is on the left (left-hand drive, LHD). However, cars are sometimes imported without conversion, so you can find RHD cars in some RHT countries and vice versa.

Is this data official?

The data is compiled from official road traffic legislation and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic records. A small number of territories (overseas islands, disputed regions) follow the rule of their administering country and are not listed separately.

Can I use this for planning a road trip across borders?

Yes. The lookup is especially useful when planning overland crossings between countries with different traffic rules, such as crossing from Thailand (left) into Laos (right), or from the Republic of Ireland (left) into Northern Ireland which is also left, but then into mainland Great Britain which stays left throughout. Always verify locally before driving, as rules in free-trade zones or border crossings can have temporary exceptions.

Country Driving Side Lookup

Every year millions of travellers rent a car, cross a land border, or research an overseas road trip and need a quick answer to one question: does this country drive on the left or the right? This lookup gives you an instant, offline answer for 195 countries, filtered and searchable in real time, with a small road diagram for clarity and historical notes where a country has switched sides in living memory.

How the data is organised

Each entry records:

Country name and ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (e.g. JP for Japan).
Driving side — left-hand traffic (LHT) or right-hand traffic (RHT).
Historical note where applicable (Sweden 1967, Samoa 2009, Myanmar c. 1970).

The tool computes nothing mathematically — it performs a pure lookup against an embedded dataset, so there is no server call and no latency.

The global picture

Right-hand traffic is the majority rule: roughly 65% of countries drive on the right, covering most of continental Europe, the Americas, mainland Africa outside former British colonies, and most of East and Southeast Asia. Left-hand traffic covers approximately 35% of countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and much of the English-speaking Caribbean.

The division is largely, but not entirely, a legacy of British colonial influence for LHT and Napoleonic or American influence for RHT.

Reading the road diagram

When you narrow the search to a single country, a small SVG diagram appears beneath the result card. It shows a two-lane road with a centre-line and a blue car travelling in the correct lane, with a green arrow indicating the direction of travel. This gives an immediate visual confirmation that is hard to misread even when reading quickly.

Worked example: planning a Southeast Asia road trip

Suppose you plan to drive from Singapore (left) north through Malaysia (left) into Thailand (left) and then cross into Laos (right). The first three countries share left-hand traffic, so no adjustment is needed at those borders. The Thailand-to-Laos crossing is the critical transition: you swap from the left lane to the right lane at the border crossing. Renting a car in Laos will give you a left-hand-drive vehicle.

Country	Side	Steering wheel
Singapore	Left	Right-hand drive
Malaysia	Left	Right-hand drive
Thailand	Left	Right-hand drive
Laos	Right	Left-hand drive

Use the filter buttons to show only LHT or only RHT countries for a quick at-a-glance comparison during trip planning.

Why driving side matters beyond cars

The driving side also affects cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians. In LHT countries pedestrians typically keep left on shared paths and look right first when crossing a road. Roundabouts flow clockwise in LHT countries and anticlockwise in RHT countries. If you are travelling with a bicycle or motorbike that has controls set for one side, check the local convention before you ride.

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