When in doubt, just pick a lane... even if it's the wrong one.
Tour Bus Driver: Take off! To the Great White North!
Marge: Oh, I see you drive on the left up here.
Tour Bus Driver: No, Ma'am. I'm drunk.
Want to illustrate how alien a foreign country is to an American audience? Have the country's road traffic drive on the left-hand side. After all, only 30% of the world operates with left-hand traffic which, assuming the viewers are North American, just sounds weird. The most notable countries and regions that drive on the left include the United Kingdom, the Indian sub-continent, Japan, Oceania, and the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The most common one to be joked about in colloquial conversation is England, and indeed most of the countries that operate with left-hand traffic were former colonies of England during the British Empire (with Japan being the notable exception).
Despite what some might think, if speculating deeply as to the reasoning behind this practice, countries that drive on the left do not in fact have a higher percentage of left-handed people. The origins of driving on the left side go back to Medieval England where Knights would ride their horses on the left side of the road so if they encountered an enemy their sword hand would be on the correct (right) side. As mentioned above, that is why most left-hand driving countries are former English colonies.
In fiction, expect left-hand traffic to have some sort of relevance as a punchline for a joke made at the expense of the country, be it a Real Life country or a made-up one. The most common gag involves a person accustomed to left-hand traffic driving on the left in a right-hand traffic country, and vice-versa. More often than not, this leads to a traffic accident like a head-on collision. You can most often expect there to be lampshades made at this such as "We're not in England!" or "I forgot they drive on the left here!".
Commonly done by a character who Drives Like Crazy. Compare The Wrong Way on the Escalator for a similar gag involving opposite-hand traffic. See also British Driving Laws.
Examples:
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Comic Books
- Disney Ducks Comic Universe: One story made for the 2012 London Olympics had Donald and the boys hijack a doubledecker bus in order to get the athlete for a minor nation whose only hope for acclaim is their Olympic sprinter to the arena in time. They are eventually stopped by the bobbies, who ask what the heck is wrong with Donald since he was driving on the wrong side of the road.
- Simpsons Comics #208: "Brit Simpson" involves Bart being mixed up on the plane with the wrong family, who resemble the British versions of the main Simpsons family. Homer's counterpart, Omar Simpson, is driving Bart and the family home to Springshire, England, when Bart points out that he's driving on the wrong side of the road. Indeed, Omar is driving in the right lane, and thanks Bart for the heads-up.
- Suske en Wiske: In "Tokapua Toraja", the protagonists are on vacation in Indonesia with a personal tour guide who also does the driving, but at the end of the adventure she leaves them so Lambik volunteers to drive the group to their next destination. He forgets however that in Indonesia cars drive on the left and crashes the car, resulting in everyone getting injured and having to return home early. As they arrive at the airport, Sidonia and Lambik are seen arguing with Sidonia pointing out to Lambik he was driving in the wrong lane, while Lambik is too stubborn to admit this and keeps insisting everyone else was driving in the wrong lane.
- Tytus, Romek i A'tomek: In Volume V, one of traveled by heroes places is London in which they were driving on the right side, which resulted a crash. Fortunately, when policeman notices this he advices them calmly to take a bus.
Fan Works
- Five Times Jesse Pinkman Met A Companion: During her travel to America, Donna meets Jesse when she is resting after a near crash caused by the fact that "everyone was driving on the wrong side of the road" (the right, as opposed to the left like in Donna's home Britain).
Films — Animated
- Cars 2: While separated from the rest of the gang in London, it takes Mater several tries to enter a round-about while going against traffic and he exclaims, "What's everybody drivin' on the wrong side of the road for?!"
Films — Live-Action
- Crocodile Dundee: After getting to New York City in the first film, Mick Dundee goes out drinking with a taxi driver. As the taxi driver winds up considerably drunker than Mick, Mick decides to drive. He gets into the cab and comments that the steering wheel is on the wrong side, then drives off and there's a sudden sound of car horns along with Mic screaming at the unseen other driver to "get out of the left lane!"
- A Fish Called Wanda: One of the earliest signs that Otto is a completely moronic dickhead is that he drives on the right side of the road despite being in the UK and forces other cars to swerve past him.
Otto: ASSHOOOOLE!!!
- Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties: Shortly after arriving in England, Garfield is mistaken for Prince, an almost identical cat, and taken back to Prince's stately home. Along the way, Garfield, unfamiliar with British traffic rules, loudly complains that the chauffeur is driving on the wrong side of the road.
- The Holiday: The American Amanda impulsively does a Christmastime house swap with the British Iris. After arriving in Iris' Surrey cottage, Amanda decides to drive into town. Unfortunately she panics while driving on the left side of the road and nearly causes an accident (the film being a romcom, this is played for comedy).
- National Lampoon's European Vacation: The Griswold family runs into the problem while driving a car around the center of London, with their vehicle swerving violently around a loop until Clark is able to realign his driving.
- National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets: Downplayed. Ben Gates and his group are in England and are fleeing Mitch Wilkinson's group after recovering the wooden plank in Queen Elizabeth's Resolute Desk, and they maake a beeline for their rental car, with Riley saying he'll drive, before hopping in the left-side front door. However, he forgot about the road switch and thus the switch of the driver's side of the car, so Ben ends up in the driver's seat.
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles: After a lengthy routine of Del trying to get his coat unstuck, the rental car he and Neal are in spins out of control in the middle of a dark, unmarked stretch of the interstate, and Del inadvertently starts driving down the wrong side of the road by mistake. Then some passersby in a nearby car notice this and try to warn him, but Del dismisses them as being drunk and tries to play it off. By the time Neal figures out what's happening, the car is already barreling narrowly in between two gigantic semi trucks, nearly killing both of them and causing Neal to have a near-death series of rapid-fire crazy hallucinations. After they manage to stop the car, their brush with death leaves them both severely rattled, and Neal has to pry his fingers from the dashboard because he was clenching it so tightly.
- The Return Of Sherlock Holmes 1985: This Pilot Movie has the British detective thawed out from cryostasis in the 20th century. He awakens in the United States and discovers much has changed in modern society. While driving a motor vehicle along a state highway, Holmes nearly collides with an oncoming car. After the near miss, Holmes remembers that Americans drive on the right, as opposed to the British left. The near miss also triggers an incident of road rage from the other driver, which compels Holmes to call for help.
Jokes
- A guy who gets a call from his wife on his way home from work, warning him that she heard in the traffic report about some crazy guy who's driving on the wrong side of the road. His reply: "It's not just one guy. Everyone on this highway is driving on the wrong side!"
Literature
- Doc Savage: In an early story, Doc finds himself in England late at night and is walking down a lonely country road towards the nearest town. He's nearly run over by a delivery truck, only avoiding being hit due to his incredibly quick reflexes because he forgot that in England they drive on the left side of the road.
Live-Action TV
- Arrested Development: While pretending to be a British nanny, Tobias Funke deliberately drives on the wrong side of the road at one point to try and sell the act to the rest of his family. He tries to sell it further with the comment 'I keep forgetting I'm in the colonies'. (What makes this excuse even dumber is that the show takes place in Southern California, which was never a British colony.)
- Bassie & Adriaan: In the UK-centric episode of De Geheimzinnige Opdracht, B100 rents a car to keep chasing the two protagonists, but in the next scene he appears he has crashed his vehicle somehow and is calling his boss, De Baron, to explain the situation. He claims the crash happened when he tried to dodge a large group of wrong-way drivers, who were all driving on the left side of the road. De Baron angrily points out to him that in the United Kingdom cars drive on the left, thus B100 himself was the wrong way driver. B100 sheepishly admits he forgot about that.
- In the TV movie Crash Course (aka "Driving Academy"), Japanese immigrant Kichi takes the wheel for the first time...and starts driving on the left-hand side of the road. (The film takes place in America.) He narrowly avoids a few collisions and causes a great deal of stress for his teacher.
- Frasier lampshaded this by having Daphne's mother arrive from England. Gertrude Moon fell asleep in the back seat of the car and woke up screaming, insisting Daphne was driving on the wrong side of the road.
- Homicide: Life on the Street: Played for Drama in Shades of Gray; when a white bus driver runs down and injures a black pedestrian, starting a riot in which the driver and another man are killed. The pedestrian eventually admits that she caused the accident and that she stepped out in front of the bus because she'd recently arrived in the USA from Jamaica (an ex-British colony where vehicles drive on the left) and had looked the wrong way.
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: In "The Gang Goes to Ireland", Dee is warned to look to the right first when crossing the street since people drive on the left in Ireland. When she crosses a street to get a taxi not too long later, she still looks to the left instead and promptly gets hit by a van driving from her right.
- A flashback-heavy episode of NCIS reveals that a young Ducky once drove on the wrong side of the road (it was his first time in America) and ran another car off said road. In the trunk of that car was a recently-kidnapped young Gibbs, whose life Ducky had just inadvertently saved; this became the start of their friendship.
- Only Fools and Horses: After Del and Rodney arrive in Miami and get into their crappy RV in the second part of the "Miami Twice" two-parter, Del immediately gets behind the wheel singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" while a terrified Rodney screams at his brother that they drive on the other side of the road in America.
- Top Gear (UK): One episode has the trio design a car for the elderly, with a number of features designed to stop the driver getting confused and driving onto the wrong side of a motorway — culminating in the car self-destructing.
Music
- The Swirling Eddies' song "Driving in England"
uses this as a metaphor. The narrator feels like a Fish out of Water due to his beliefs, so in the chorus, he compares it to driving down a California highway as if he were in England instead.
I think the only way to goIs against the grainI was driving in EnglandDown the Santa Ana FreewaySomebody's screaming out"You're going down the wrong way!" - of Montreal's "My British Tour Diary", about the American band touring England for the first time, mentions this:
Left alone to drive ourselves on the opposite sideMan, it was a miracle that nobody died
Video Games
- Grand Theft Auto V: In one of Trevor's personal side missions he has to help a vacationing British couple named the Thornhills, who have an insane obsession with collecting celebrity "memorabilia", kidnap actor Al DiNapoli for their collection. This leads to a car chase during which both parties end up driving on the left side of the road for a moment, prompting Mr. Thornhill to praise Trevor for "driving on the proper side of the road".
- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! heavily implies this with the title and description of Wrong Way Highway, where the protagonist in a crimson car has to dodge the cars heading the other direction, and the description reads: "These drivers have sub-average brains. Wrong way, fools. Look out."
Webcomics
- Scandinavia and the World: The Strip "Knights Of Old" references the fact that knights would ride to the left to keep their sword arm available, while showing England driving a car... with a sword in his hand.
Web Video
- Inverted in Nerd³'s video on the German-made OMSI Bus Simulator. Being British, Dan is accustomed to driving on the left and is confused when he meets a car going the other way, prompting him to laugh as he realises his mistake.
Western Animation
- The Loud House: In "A Knight to Remember", the Loud family is taking a road trip to England in a double-decker bus. Rita is driving on the ride side and gets honked at by oncoming traffic before she swerves into the opposite lane so fast that the Loud children in the back hit the side window, and she lampshades that she forgot they drive on the left in England.
- A common gag in Peppa Pig episodes that show the Pig family going to another country is showing Daddy Pig driving on the wrong side of the road while native drivers frantically go around him and yell at him.
- The Simpsons:
- In "Lisa's Wedding", Homer drives his British soon-to-be-son-in-law Hugh on the left side of the road at night in Springfield. Homer asks if it makes him feel more at home while being bombarded and honked at by oncoming traffic. Hugh is terrified and remains shaken up the whole time.
- In "The Bart Wants What It Wants", the Simpsons take a trip to Toronto, Canada, and while riding on the tour bus, Marge points out how fascinating it is that they drive on the left in Canada. The driver responds saying that he's just drunk.
- T.U.F.F. Puppy: In "Dog Save the Queen", the Chameleon shapeshifts into a double-decker bus, but he crashes after learning everyone in England drives on the opposite side of the road.
