Why does Australia drive on the left?

People in Australia drive on the left because the country is made up of former British colonies, and the UK drives on the left. American and European visitors will have to get used to right hand drive vehicles.

In Australia, people drive on the left-hand side of the road. For visitors coming from the UK, India or Japan, this doesn’t present too much of a challenge. But coming from a country which drives on the right – such as the US or anywhere else in Europe – this can be off-putting.

Realistically, driving on the left when you’re accustomed to driving on the right doesn’t make too much of a difference. The key difference is that the gearstick is in the ‘wrong’ hand. But as many rental cars in Australia are automatics anyway, this doesn’t tend to have a massive effect. If you pick up a hire car in Cairns or an Uluru rental vehicle, you’ll probably get used to it being right hand drive surprisingly quickly.

nullarbor-plain-entry-sign-south-australia — Australia drives on the left. But often for long distances through the middle of nowhere, like this lovely spot near the Nullarbor Roadhouse. Photo by David Whitley/ Australia Travel Questions

Dangers of driving on the left in Australia

The biggest danger zone when driving on the other side of the road tends to be when you’re coming out of a car park. Or, indeed, anywhere that isn’t divided into two lanes of traffic going in opposite directions. That’s where instinct and learned behaviour kick in. Unless you can see which direction the traffic is moving in, it’s easy to default to what you’re used to.

But why does Australia drive on the left? Well, it became an independent country long before driving was commonplace. Australia ceased to be a collection of British colonies in 1901, when the country federated. But the British influence has always been strong in Australia, as have the links to the United Kingdom. Besides, cars weren’t the first things to use roads – sticking to the left was rule for horses, carts and carriages long before motoring was popular.

Differences of driving in Australia

British drivers won’t find driving in Australia totally familiar, however. For a start, distances are in kilometres rather than miles, and speed limits are different from in the UK. The legal drink drive blood alcohol limit is also lower in Australia.

Driving times in Australia are also looooooooooong. Even drives that look short on a map, such as Melbourne to Echuca or Canberra to Sydney, can take a few hours. That’s before you get to the real long haul drives such as Sydney to Alice Springs, Darwin to Cairns or Perth to Broome. On some rural drives, there can be nothing but an outback roadhouse every couple of hours.

Night driving can be much trickier in Australia, partly due to the kamikaze kangaroos that jump out of nowhere. And then there are the areas that can only be accessed with a 4WD vehicle. A four wheel drive is essential to drive on Fraser Island in Queensland, or across Cahills Crossing in the Northern Territory, for example. 4WDing novices will be understandably nervous about such undertakings.