Driving on the right side

Australia is one of the few countries that drive on the left-hand side of the road. The United Kingdom, Japan, and South Africa also drive on the left-hand side of the road, which is about 35 per cent of the world population that drive on the left.

Now that Australia no longer manufactures motor vehicles, it relies on importing cars from around the world. In 2021, Holden, once Australia's top-selling vehicle, withdrew from the car market in Australia because its parent company, General Motors, decided it would no longer make right-hand drive cars.

Some importers buy left-hand drive cars and then convert them to right-hand drive in Australia. For example, you can buy a Chevrolet Silverado or a Dodge RAM truck in right-hand drive in Australia, but you will pay over $100,000 to do so. It's not cheap. Fortunately for Australia, Japan still makes plenty of right-hand cars for their market, so there are plenty of Mazdas, Toyotas and other Japanese cars to go around.

Over the years, many countries have switched the side of the road they drive, most switching from driving on the left to driving on the right. And even though they are in the majority, I would still say that driving on the left side of the road is still the right side.

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