10 Reasons why RHD is safer in a LHD environment
1. Cyclists (illegally) coming up on the right is a major concern when making right turns in urban areas. In a LHD vehicle the only safe way to check for this is to look back over your right shoulder, thus loosing sight of what is happening in front. This method is actually specified in the commercial driver training manual. In a RHD vehicle the driver only has to drop his vision to the right hand mirror for an instant and he can see everything to his right rear without losing sight of what is happening in front of his vehicle.
2. When turning left in a LHD vehicle the left side windshield pillar is much closer to the driver’s eyes and therefore blocks more of his field of view (FOV). In a RHD the windshield pillar is farther away and therefore blocks much less of the FOV. That windshield pillar can easily obscure a pedestrian when turning left through an intersection for example. Furthermore, when turning left in a LHD the area of worst visibility is the LH rear. The LH door frame and pillar being very close to the driver’s eyes in a LHD vehicle, block the view to a great extent, even when the driver looks back over his left shoulder (and not many do). In a RHD however the door frame and pillar are farther away and block much less of the view. The driver in a RHD also does not have to turn his head as far to look to his left rear, allowing his peripheral vision to cover more of the usual blindspot to the LH rear.
3. At night it is much easier to see and follow the white line on the RH (curb) side of the road than trying to see the yellow line in the center against the headlights of oncoming traffic. By avoiding looking directly at the oncoming headlights the driver’s night vision is better and he is more likely to see pedestrians, cyclists, animals or other hazards on the RH (curb) side which are less easily noticed by drivers in LHD vehicles whose attention is focused on the center line of the road.
4. In a head-on collision the impact is most likely to occur on the left front of the vehicle; being seated on the right the driver is less likely to be injured and injuries if sustained are likely to be less serious.
5. When parallel parking in a RHD the driver has a much better view of the curb and the LH rear of the car in front of him. This means faster and better parking with less obstruction of the curb lane and the dangerous and illegal swerving around vehicles trying to parallel park that we see so often.
6. In a RHD vehicle the driver gets out of the vehicle on the curb side rather than the road side. Obviously much safer for the driver as well as cyclists and other drivers.
7. When pulling out into traffic, there is a risk of “T-bone” collisions. In such cases the driver of a RHD vehicle is safer, being on the opposite side from where such an impact would occur.
RHD drivers are better able to jude how far to the right they can move on a narrow road to allow oncomming traffic to pass safely making a head on collision much less likely.
9. Less likely to be blind of upcoming LHD bad ajusted headlights.
10. Safe for driver(RHD) to get from car to side walk on the street with busy traffic.