Look both ways, a photo from London, England

Photographer's Note

About a 35% of the world population drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world. In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an
opponent. [...]
The trend among nations over the years has been toward driving on the right, but Britain has done its best to stave off global homogenisation. With the expansion of travel and road building in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in every country. Left-hand driving was made mandatory in Britain in 1835. Countries which were part of the British Empire followed suit. This is why to this very day, India, Australasia and the former British colonies in Africa go left. An exception to the rule, however, is Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.
You can read more about the rules in different countries here:
https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/driving-on-the-left/

Anyway, in London is of course left-hand traffic. It is dangerous for visitors from "normal" countries, especially for pedestrians. On the crossing, they, like me, look the wrong way. For that reason, everywhere on the crossings are such signs - on a one-way road it can be look right, or look left, here is look both ways. But not everywhere is the crossing colourful.

ikeharel, ChrisJ, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, worldcitizen, jemaflor, COSTANTINO, mcmtanyel, aliabazari has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

holmertz (103694) 2022-06-13 3:01

Hello Malgo,
Sweden shifted from left side driving to right side as relatively recently as in 1967. So I grew up with a "British" system. But we were told to "look left, look right, look left again and then cross the road". So we looked both ways even though we were used to the traffic. But of course we didn't have such colourful crossings in my village. In fact, we didn't have any crossings at all. We crossed the road wherever we wanted: ;-)
Kind regards,
Gert

ChrisJ (172436) 2022-06-13 4:14

Hello Malgo

Interesting reason why the British preferred the left. With aggressive drivers around the world these days both naturally and those on illicit substances, perhaps staying on the left was not such a bad idea? This fluorescent pedestrian crossing is a clever idea. The motorists see it before the pedestrians and in all kinds of weather, thus improving their chances of safely crossing the road! Tfs!

Royaldevon (86520) 2022-06-13 5:12

Hello Malgo,

I think this a most interesting observation and a colourful change from the most common sights seen in London.
When we go abroad, we have to be very aware of the differences in the approaching traffic. Difficulties in driving, apart from the gear stick being in the wrong place, are things like going the wrong way around roundabouts!

Kind regards,
Bev :-)
Have you found it strange, travelling abroad, or has it been a welcome blessing, to deal with your loss?

pierrefonds (115624) 2022-06-13 5:54

Hi Malgo,

It is the first time for me to see such sign, when I visited London in 2011 it was writen look on the left. The point of view is showing the details of the pediestrians path. The light is bringing out the colors. Have a nice dya.

Pierre

Tue (93530) 2022-06-13 10:09

Hello Malgo,
It always requires some getting used to when in England again, but luckily in places with many tourists we get warned, like at this crossing. It is a nice and colourful one and the street life in the background is also well included.
Lars

worldcitizen (16234) 2022-06-13 12:06

Hello Malgo,
I like this colorful street shot. The light blue color on the ground matches the color of the "love style" sign on the shop, and there is just enough activity to bring the scene to life, but not make it too overcrowded. Take care!

lousat (140046) 2022-06-13 13:10

Ciao Malgo,a very original colorful crossing, never seen anything like it, and this was the good opportunity to talk about the left-hand drive that still exists in English-speaking countries, something that makes it difficult for tourists, from pedestrians to those who have the courage to rent a car. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

PiotrF (56116) 2022-06-13 17:06

Czesc Malgo
Haslo stosowac trzeba nie tylko nie tylko na przejsciu dla pieszych,,,, w zyciu tez sie sprawdza.
Ciekawe te Twoje kadry z Londynu, pewnie uwzglednie kiedys w wedrowkach po tym miescie
pozdrawiam
Piotr

jemaflor (148306) 2022-06-13 23:27

Hi Malgo,
Well observed, interesting streetphoto. Good depth and colors, original, tfs.

pajaran (117137) 2022-06-14 0:21

Pozdrav.

Lep pogled, interesantan tekst ...
Lepo mesto, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i perpsketivom.
Dobar rad, lepa fotografija.
Ne mogu da zamislim kako bi izgledalo da moram sada u 73. godine, da pocnem da vozim levom stranom puta i ulice.

Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje.
Paja

ifege (49539) 2022-06-14 0:26

Hi Malgo
It is not just ex British colonies that drive on the left. In our part of the world so do Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.
A good photo of a very colourful pedestrian crossing.
cheers
Ian

jmdias (116579) 2022-06-14 13:09

malgo

mo鏰mbique dirige do lado errado porque era muito pr髕ima da 醘rica do sul, algo que eu sempre achei uma aberra玢o. meu tio quando voltou para portugal trouxe o carro dele de l� e o usou nas estradas portuguesas, dirigindo certo com o carro errado. ele dizia ter se adaptado ao usar as duas regras ao mesmo tempo.

um abra鏾

jorge

COSTANTINO (117884) 2022-06-14 22:11

Hello my dearest Malgorzata
have a pleasant day
It is difficult enough to me
to drive from the other side of the
road....it is the first time I see
something like that..the colorful
crossings we can see here have a great
originality for me...
regards
Costantino

ikeharel (114691) 2022-06-15 0:40

Hi Malgo,
Good idea to paint the crossing path in vivid colors, not the white usual strips, and very imposrtent to look both sides, everywhere...
Have a nice new day,
Ike

mcmtanyel (69310) 2022-06-15 20:45

Hello Malgo,
One should look both ways when crossing two-way traffic, regardless of the country, anyway. In Turkey, we were taught to look left first, then right, then left again. I assume it is the opposite in GB.
I love the colorful pedestrian crossing.
Regards,
MT

aliabazari (23335) 2022-06-15 20:46

Hello Malgorzata
I do not like driving on the left side of England at all and I do not understand it. Thanks for sharing good information on this. Beautiful view of this pedestrian line. Clarity and lighting done well. I like sidewalks and shop windows