Why do the British drive on the left hand side of the road?

Question

It seems as though the rest of the world has followed the U.S. example of driving on the right hand side of the road. Not to say that either way of driving is right or wrong.

Answer 1

Too stubborn to change?

Answer 2

Why do we drive on the right? It's just something we do differently.

Answer 3

Seven hundred years ago everybody used the English system, and if distressing numbers of us have proven fickle in the centuries since, that's no reason to dump on the Brits.

In the Middle Ages you kept to the left for the simple reason that you never knew who you'd meet on the road in those days. You wanted to make sure that a stranger passed on the right so you could go for your sword in case he proved unfriendly.  

This custom was given official sanction in 1300 AD, when Pope Boniface VIII invented the modern science of traffic control by declaring that pilgrims headed to Rome should keep left.