A Sinister Puzzle

[beamjockey]

One of my correspondents-- an American-- is contemplating a new hobby:

Since I have been to Scotland, Wales, England, Hong Kong, the Virgin Islands (British and American) and now Australia, I was thinking of setting a goal to get to every country where they drive on the wrong side of the street. Since I have NO IDEA what other countries I would have to include on my list, I thought you guys might be able to fill me in when I get back.

How do I find an exhaustive list of countries whose inhabitants drive on the left side of the road?

I think she needs to go to Japan.

Beyond that, I don't know.

I suppose all former British colonies should be examined as potential members of the list.

Comments

[guyfie.livejournal.com]

http://www.i18nguy.com/driver-side.html#countrytable

[cobrabay.livejournal.com]

She still has quite a few places to do, nearly 70. How you define countries will make a difference, but here is a list of places that drive on the left.

Googlem is our friend.

[blueeyedtigress.livejournal.com]

http://www.pubquizhelp.34sp.com/misc/leftdrive.html

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I suppose all former British colonies should be examined as potential members of the list.

I can state with some authority that the former British colonies in North America would not be on the list.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

I knew that, but I suspect there is a correlation between "UK colony" and "drives on the left" nonetheless. The correlation is not 1.0.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Just being a smartass.

[madtechie2718.livejournal.com]

>I can state with some authority that the former British colonies in North America would not be on the list.

You've evidently not been around when I'm driving in the US on holiday!

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Much of sub-saharan Africa and ireland to name a few :-)

Re: Please e-mail either way.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

What? Mike died? Damn. Damn. Damn.

Re: Please e-mail either way.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Yes. On 25 September.

There's a memorial gathering in Minneapolis this coming weekend. I can't attend but I wish I could.

Re: Please e-mail either way.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

On whole month ago? Thanks for the link to Making Light's obit.

[eub.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_on_the_left_or_right
proposes a list of about seventy-five(!) left-driving countries and territories.

Also a link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H

Dagen H (The H day) was the day, 3 September 1967, on which traffic in Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. The H stands for Högertrafik, the Swedish word for "right-hand traffic".

And Dagen H commemorative underwear.

[shimgray.livejournal.com]

...commemorative underwear.

That wins today's "unexpected surreality" prize, I feel.

[madtechie2718.livejournal.com]

....And Dagen H commemorative underwear.

In a nice tasteful brown, I suspect!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

That is one fine new hobby, I must say.

K.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"How do I find an exhaustive list of countries whose inhabitants drive on the left side of the road?"

There's an easy algorithm:

Visit every country. Drive on the right side of the road. When you're done, the collection of tickets you have is a list of such countries.

B

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

There's an easy algorithm:

Visit every country. Drive on the right side of the road. When you're done, the collection of tickets you have is a list of such countries.


This sounds a little like Jerry Corrigan's algorithm for driving while reading:

Bring passengers. Steer to minimize the screaming from the other seats.

(You could probably automate this with a microphone, a servomotor, and a handful of op amps.)