DRIVING ON THE LEFT

I have finally accomplished a great feat - I drove into Dublin by myself! I had to drive to the Stake Center for a training meeting, since I'm the Relief Society Secretary now for our church women's organization. So armed with my trusty GPS and a book map of Dublin (just in case) I set out - at night mind you - for Dublin. I missed the first highway change, forgetting that even though the lanes show a double lane entrance onto the M50, this is misleading. You HAVE to be in the left lane. The right lane does not go into the M50. Of course you find this out too late, so you have to continue on the N4 until you can take the next exit and turn around. I thought my "trusty" GPS lady (who I've named "Moira" by the way) would immediately tell me to take the next exit so I could get back to the M50, but she let me down. But, maybe she was plotting another route without taking the M50 (or maybe it was a secret revenge from her because of the many times my husband ignores her directions). I didn't want to take that chance though so I took the exit and got back on the N4 going back the other way and was able to get on the M50.

The M50 is a toll-road, however there are no toll-booths. There are signs telling you that if you drive on that road, then you must log on to the highway website and pay your toll with your credit card by 8pm the next day. If you frequently travel the M50, you can order a device that attaches to your dashboard and it records when you drive on the M50 and it automatically charges your credit card. I wonder how many foreigners never pay the toll?

I do pretty good driving on the left, except when I'm in a parking lot. I don't know why this is so hard for me to remember, but I have noticed my husband does the same thing. I pulled into a McDonalds parking lot the other night, and came face to face with another car before I realized I was on the right. Of course they honked at me. :0)

The following is also from Wikopedia: "There were several countries that switched from left-hand driving to right-hand driving during the 20th century. The most common reason these countries switched was because they had neighboring countries that drove on the right-hand side.

"There is a popular story that Napoleon changed the rule of the road in the countries he conquered from keep-left to keep-right. The justifications mentioned are usually symbolic, such as that Napoleon himself was left- (or right-) handed, or that Britain, Napoleon's enemy, kept left. This story has never been shown to have a factual basis and it appears to be a legend.

"Research in 1969 by J. J. Leeming showed countries driving on the left have a lower collision rate than countries driving on the right. It has been suggested this is partly because humans are more commonly right-eye dominant than left-eye dominant.In left-hand traffic, the predominantly better-performing right eye is used to monitor oncoming traffic and the driver's wing mirror. In right-hand traffic, oncoming traffic and the driver's wing mirror are handled by the predominantly weaker left eye. Some countries that have switched to driving on the right, such as Sweden, have seen their collision rates increase out of proportion to the increase in traffic volume."

I think this research is true but for only the following reason: Because you are so freaked out about driving on the left, that you grip the wheel and pay STRICT attention to your driving, thus preventing collisons.