Model T changed US --in another way
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,475
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From: Frequently frozen MN
Model T changed US --in another way
Hi,
I was just at the local New London to New Brighton antique car run -- at the finish line. The cars this year were all 1910 or earlier, I believe.
Anyway, for the first time I noticed that they had the steering wheels on the right. So, off to google
Apparently, virtually all US cars were right hand drive in the beginning. A 1792 law made driving on the right side of the road mandatory ( for horses at the time
), but common practice was for the driver to be on the right. So, when they started building cars, they did the same thing. Henry changed that with the T -- I guess for the convenience of passenger entry -- or maybe it was cheaper . It became common a couple of years later, but some companies stayed with RH drive until the 20's.
I'm sure that a lot of people knew that, but it was news to me.
hj
I was just at the local New London to New Brighton antique car run -- at the finish line. The cars this year were all 1910 or earlier, I believe.
Anyway, for the first time I noticed that they had the steering wheels on the right. So, off to google
Apparently, virtually all US cars were right hand drive in the beginning. A 1792 law made driving on the right side of the road mandatory ( for horses at the time
), but common practice was for the driver to be on the right. So, when they started building cars, they did the same thing. Henry changed that with the T -- I guess for the convenience of passenger entry -- or maybe it was cheaper . It became common a couple of years later, but some companies stayed with RH drive until the 20's.I'm sure that a lot of people knew that, but it was news to me.
hj
