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Countries that share borders but drive on different sides of the road Countries that share borders but drive on different sides of the road
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Travellers' questions that don't fit anywhere else This is an opportunity to ask any question, and post any notice you wish that doesn't fit into one of the other sections.
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Countries that share borders but drive on different sides of the road
Was pondering today whether there are any countries that share borders but drive on the opposite sides of the road. What happens at the borders??

I'm assuming it's not a complicated series of bridges etc
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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England and France/Belgium. Can't comment on how the situation is solved
Never been there.
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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England and France/Belgium. Can't comment on how the situation is solved
Never been there.
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Denmark and Germany back in the 60's according to my dad and I believe some bits in west Africa. The border posts are manned so you pull in, park up, do the paperwork and pull out of another gate an on to the other side of the road.

Andy
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Perhaps this helps:



BTW, in Nigeria they drive on both sides

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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Iran into Pakistan there is so little traffic you just drive on which ever side has least potholes, the same Kenya into Ethiopia. Laos into Thailand there are signs reminding you to switch over. At borders you are usually pottering along at walking pace anyway so changes are made without drama.
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie View Post
Denmark and Germany back in the 60's ...

Andy
No. It was Denmark Sweden but there was only a ferry so it was easy to get to the other side f the road. It was quite another story when Sweden changed from left to right one night at 2 o´clock.

Today it happens between Thailand and Cambodia.
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Does anyone know if India have decided which side they want to drive on yet?

:confused1:
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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So the places it tends to happen now aren't exactly busy borders?

Obviously UK/France is the one I know well - the ferry/train makes it very easy with regards to that.

I assumed it'd be third world countries - for some reason I suspected Africa and as suggested, I guess there's so little traffic it doesn't matter.

Funny what you randomly come up with!!
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by g6snl View Post
Does anyone know if India have decided which side they want to drive on yet?

:confused1:

I think they are still divided on that one, it might be a cast thing, some drive on the left, some on the right and others wherever there is room.
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Old 13 Apr 2014
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Old 18 Apr 2014
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Originally Posted by TheMoose View Post
Was pondering today whether there are any countries that share borders but drive on the opposite sides of the road. What happens at the borders??

I'm assuming it's not a complicated series of bridges etc
Presumably that's why the channel bridge never got built and why the tunnel is that stupid train thing rather than a road all the way through.
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Old 18 Apr 2014
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Guyana and Suriname drive on the left. At the Brazil border a bridge with a series of crossing ramps transfers traffic from one side to the other; at French Guiana there's a river to ferry across, and you're just expected to know what to do when disembarking.

Entering Suriname I had to putter along at a snail's pace until I could sort through the various practices on display--people driving anywhere they chose, including left, right, center, sidewalks and perpendicular) and figure out that the underlying expectation was for drivers to default to the left.

Most left-hand driving countries seem to be islands or sparsely connected to international road systems. There's a reason for that.

For history: Fileriving standards historic.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark
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Old 21 Apr 2014
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Thailand-Laos
https://maps.google.ch/maps?q=16.601...num=1&t=h&z=17
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