As everyone knows, in Japan they drive on the other side of the road from the US and many other places. For some reason this works well on islands, I don't quite follow why it's worth it for the auto industry to continue allowing this trend, but I guess they can't change it now.
What might be less obvious to observers, is that staying on the left pervades all aspects of life here. Things we don't even think about, like which side of the escalator to stand on, are reversed here. So while, you may get harassed in Washington D.C. for standing on the left side of the escalator, (This side is for the super important people who need to walk up the escalator. If they were really in a hurry they should just take the stairs.) in Tokyo, you stand on the left and walk up the right side.
This foreign (literally) concept also applies to sidewalks, though with less success. Technically, bikes are supposed to stay in the bike lane, but realistically they go where ever they want. Bikes in the bike lane should then keep left and pass right always. Generally this rule is followed, but what throws me off, is when I try to get out of someone's way by going right, but they go left and then we almost hit each other. It's completely ingrained in my head, that to get out of the way in traffic, go right. It's situations like this that lead me to just ride in the street where possible, because there's more room and fewer obstacles.
1 comment:
Dude that is really fucking cool. I've always wondered about this. In Germany, I remember Dave got stopped by a cop because he was riding his bike, on the shoulder, on the wrong side of the road.
So when you're on the sidewalk, you tend to stay left. But do you tend to stay on the sidewalk on the left side of the street, too?
Is staying on the sidewalk on the right side of the street even something you'd do in America?
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