Drive on the left/left handed?

[larrybuck]

Just a combination question here.

If you are Euromodder, vtec-e, Piwoslaw, and of course; Arragonis, and anyone else w a right sided steering wheel, and left hand shift:...................................and also left side steering wheel, right shift, but YOU are left handed:............ Do you drive enough that you have actually built up muscle in your Off arm, so that its almost as strong as what HANDED you were born with??

It may seem odd to you, but I've wondered about this for years. Unless I were to practice it a lot; my attempts at free throws in Basketball with my left hand are pretty pathetic!

If you are born, and raised in a country where you always shift w your left hand, I'm sure after the beginning, it becomes normal. If you are in that same scene and left handed as well, did you or do you still feel weaker working the steering wheel with the off hand?

Picture a NASCAR, or any kind of race spin, where the driver is working like crazy to keep the car off the wall/fence/ditch/whatever... and then also trying to re-position the car not to get hit by others....at times you are seeing some muscle being put to the wheel!


So if you were a long haul European truck driver, would your off hand/arm be as strong as your born stronger arm?

This subject just kind of fascinates me!

If you had a bodyguard who always rode behind your car; wouldn't you want that person to be left handed so they could whip out a revolver while maintaining throttle (they are on a motorcycle) to protect you better??

Of course, for all of the situations above, an ambredextrious ( I know SP, don't use this word much) person would do the best. What % of people would be in that group?

A little humor here..... My brother and I have had discussions about people, germs, diseases.... and as we have heard stats that 85% of the population or more are right handed; that certain actions should be implimented!!!.....

while entering stores, banks, and other buildings w double doors, open the left one.
Same w ladles at buffets, or scoops at the bulk section of your grocery store.

Eliminate 85% of your chance of catching someone's cold? Food for thought; pun intended!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to see your thoughts!!! Aloha!!!

[Joenavy85]

driving is the only thing I can do ambidextrous, my Aunt has a right-hand drive Lotus Elise, and I drove it without too much difficulty. It was a little weird at first but I adjusted pretty quick.

Edit: I will say that only having to change the hand use and not the foot use did make it a lot easier.

[Kodak]

No first hand (pun intended) experience on this, since I'm a righty. The most likely case is that practice will improve coordination, but strength gains will not be large.

Strength is only built on an as-needed basis. So if you lift, for example, a 10 pound weight, you get good at lifting 10 pounds or less. But continued effort with 10 pounds for the same amount of exposure won't gain any more strength. The same reason explains why a person walking for miles every day doesn't get huge legs, using the shake weight does not create giant shoulders/arms, and the entire 'toning' concept is a fallacy. I just don't see much of a 'stressful stimulus' - which is what causes adaptation in the body (see Hans Selye's general adaptation syndrome).

In any event, shifting or driving with one's non-dominant hand would only develop the necessary strength and coordination to do those activities. Since the dominant side does a bunch of more challenging stuff, I don't think it would catch up fully.

This is a really interesting question though, because it begs the questions: Would we develop R/L handed if objects were not built this way? Why aren't steering columns in the middle?

[Piwoslaw]

I drive on the right side (as in not only 'non-left', but also 'correct'), just like the rest of the Continent, so the shifter is my right hand. Even though I am left-handed (as in that is the hand I prefer to write with, I also have a right hand I sometimes use) I can't imagine shifting, or even driving, the other way around. But I know it is possible, I know a lot of people who have driven in Ireland and/or the UK and are still alive and well, so if I had to I'd get used to it.

I'm not an orthodox lefty, as I hold my fork in my left and knife in my right (as any good manners book will praise), my right hand it better for typing one-handed, and I can drink from a glass or bottle with either hand, but it is safer for me and people around me if I hold a spoon, toothbrush, or tennis racket in my left. My dominant eye is right, and I hold the computer mouse in my right, though recently I have tried to switch since the latter has effected the way I sit and given me back problems. I have no preference as which hand I use to open doors or carry heavy stuff. I don't know which leg is dominant as I prefer biking over football/soccer, since it takes me to nicer places than kicking a ball around a field.

Along the lines of what Kodak mentioned, what you do behind the wheel probably isn't enough to effect your strength's symmetry, other things you do during the day have a larger influence. That's is why I try to make myself do many things with either hand - it's not easy at first, but after a while I get the hang of it.

Originally Posted by Kodak

This is a really interesting question though, because it begs the questions: Would we develop R/L handed if objects were not built this way? Why aren't steering columns in the middle?

How many things are really built for righties? In the US I've seen scissors for lefties, which I totally don't understand - I couldn't make them work I'm so used to 'normal, righthand' scissors. Yes, chairs with a 'desk' only on one side are a pain, but the lefty chairs aren't much better.


The one thing that righties have an advantage in is writing: When a lefty writes (with a pen, for example) her/his hand slides over what was just written, smearing the ink which hasn't dried yet. Lefties should write from right to left, like Hebrew or Arabic. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the population with the largest ratio of lefties is Isreal (I read a while back that it's ~20%, while China has the lowest 2-5%)?

OK, back to driving. I read somewhere here that historically, a knight would hold his lance in his right hand, so when riding towards each other in a duel one would want his opponent to be on his right side. This gave birth to the practice of horses, then carriages, and later trains and automobiles (not to mention ships and airplanes) keeping to the left in bidirectional traffic, with the driver sitting on the side closer to the middle of the road for better visibiliy. This relic can still be seen in Britain (and some of its colonies) which is where most of this was happening first. But one of its colonies decided to drive on the right because is was naughty and wanted to thumb its nose at Britain, while most of Britains neighbors weren't especially fond of it (the feeling was mutual) and saw no reason to prefer is left-handed and backwards ways. The shifter stick was placed in the center of the vehicle so as not to hinder getting in/out. So, it is right-handedness that caused the shifter to be on the left side of the driver. The reason that most of today's world drives with the stick on the right has more to do with Britain's foreign policy...

I have a keychain which reads:

Since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then left-handed peaople are in their right minds.

[morphector]

One of my friends had imported a jdm car in canada. I drove it several time and found that after 10-15min you're used to shifting with the left hand.

The hardest was to remember that the flashers were on the right of the steering wheel, everytime I wanted to flash I started the wipers!

[Arragonis]

Only the UK (aka "Civilisation") and Ireland and the Channel Islands drive on the left here on the continent. There was another country (Denmark maybe) which swapped in the 1950s - caused all sorts of problems.

I am right handed, Mrs A can use both hands for most things, A Junior is also right handed. For the first few moments when I drive overseas I have to 'think' where 1st and 5th/6th gears are - close to me or away from me is more influential than left or right. That is of course after the 2 minutes it takes me to stop changing gear with the window winder.

Once moving though normal driving is fine, you adjust. It is intersections or roundabouts that are the real tester - you have to get used to cars going round anti-clockwise instead of clockwise and crossing junctions needs lots of though.

The first time I drove on the right was in the US and spent a week away from roundabouts. Then I came across the only one in SC and it took a good 20-30 seconds to work out what to do.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by morphector

The hardest was to remember that the flashers were on the right of the steering wheel, everytime I wanted to flash I started the wipers!

This doesn't change left or right drive, it depends on the maker I think.

That used to be a feature of Japanese cars here in the UK and they drive on the left like us. I noticed in our new Toyotas the lights and wipers are on the same side as our departing Skodas.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Once moving though normal driving is fine, you adjust. It is intersections or roundabouts that are the real tester - you have to get used to cars going round anti-clockwise instead of clockwise and crossing junctions needs lots of though.

The first time I drove on the right was in the US and spent a week away from roundabouts. Then I came across the only one in SC and it took a good 20-30 seconds to work out what to do.

I once had occasion to spend several days in London and quickly realized (as a pedestrian) that the biggest problem would not be driving, per se, but rather getting over habitually looking in the "wrong" direction, because it is all the opposite from what you would expect. You instinctively will look in the wrong direction when crossing a street. I wouldn't attempt to rent a car or drive it there, for that reason alone.

OTOH, some folks would shy away from the frenzied nature of city driving and would not want to drive in a city such as Rome, for instance. (I'd find that to be no problem - compared to NYC traffic, it would be relatively easy by comparison.)

[Joenavy85]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

That is of course after the 2 minutes it takes me to stop changing gear with the window winder.

I had to laugh a little at this one, since I did the same thing in my Aunt's Lotus.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

...that the biggest problem would not be driving, per se, but rather getting over habitually looking in the "wrong" direction...

Most UK cities where tourists would go - Edinburgh, London etc. - have "Look Left" painted on the pavement before crossings.

This is of course in English, but most tourists these days are Chinese...

Originally Posted by Joenavy85

I had to laugh a little at this one, since I did the same thing in my Aunt's Lotus.

I'm just in awe you found a Lotus with a working component