Why do you drive straight in Portugal, but in other countries where you drive left, do you question why this difference? A reason arose long before the roads became roads and cars existed as we currently know.
The origin of the left-hand drive dates back to Roman times
Following an investigation carried out in 1988, a group of archaeologists found rocks with greater wear on the left side. This fact makes sense, once a large majority of the population was dextra eo facto driving on the left side allowed him to ride a horse and defend himself from possible attacks with my own hands. This tradition continued as the advent of carriages and carriages throughout many territories. Grã-Bretanha was one of two countries that maintained this habit, a costume that remained tied for the next few days.
Driving straight through Napoleonic origins
On the other hand, the origin leads to the left from the Roman origin, and the direction leads from the Napoleonic origin. It was after the French Revolution (1799) that Napoleon Bonaparte introduced important changes in Europe, including the obligation to drive directly. This practice was imposed in France and eventually spread to all countries where the emperor had influence. Some say that this rule was imposed by the fact of Napoleon being canhoto, others, however, believe that it was based on a motivation to break with the measures of the Ancien Régime (ancient regime).
The Ford Model "T" spread the left-hand drive all over the world
The last and most recent historical fact to influence the direction of driving was the case of the United States, one of the first countries to decide to drive, such as in Spain, directly. The first automobiles manufactured placed the steering wheel as understood, right, center or left. The move is due to the distribution of two Ford model "T" cars. The first Model T was launched in October 1908 and had a left-hand steering wheel. In 1916, this was, by a very comfortable margin, the world leader in bands. This event ended up influencing all the competitions and, in 1914, the Buicks and the Hudsons joined forces with "left-hand drive".
In 1915, Cadillac accompanied the trend of the very expensive Pierce-Arrow being the last to resist, finally placing the left-hand drive in 1921. Thus, the success of Ford's expansion eventually ended up leading to direct driving of the left-hand drive in almost the entire world. In Europe, this regulation was established with the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, in 1949, which established that each country's decision on the direction of traffic should be generalized to all of its territory. Curiously, here next door, in Spain, and at the beginning of the 20th century, Barcelona drove straight and left in Madrid, causing traffic chaos and a large number of accidents. It was in 1924 that Madrid regulated circulation by direita. From then on, in Spain, we all drove straight.
In Portugal it has been conducted directly since 1928
Between us, on June 1, 1928, new traffic rules were issued that would revolutionize the habits of Portuguese drivers with the obligation to circulate à direita. For this purpose, we will create “Pela Direita” couplets that are spread throughout the entire territory, contributing to the good order of automobile circulation.
This new traffic law that altered Portuguese habits was accompanied by a large awareness campaign that was supported by the Diário de Notícias. But this obligation was said to barely respect mainland Portugal and its islands, since many high-altitude colonies, especially those with greater British influence, maintain the habit of moving left, such as Moçambique, Goa or Macau. This uniformization of driving throughout the Portuguese territory contributes to the safety of users of public roads, especially two drivers who, at the time, were just over 31 thousand (for 28,000 existing vehicles).
Because of the many advantages of Help Flash and that it can be used in any two situations, be careful that the placement of the luminous safety device must be done before exiting the vehicle (it must be left on) in an elevated and unobstructed location, in order to enhance the visibility of the remaining vehicle's hair. via.
