[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.01,0:00:05.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2009, the country of Samoa prohibited the\Nsale of alcohol ---- for three days ---- to
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.10,0:00:09.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,keep people safe while the island nation switched\Nfrom driving on the right side of the road
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.84,0:00:14.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to driving on the left. The switch was so\NSamoans could get cheap "hand-me-down" cars
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.01,0:00:18.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from nearby left-side driving New Zealand\Nand Australia. But Samoans weren't too pleased,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.06,0:00:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,since most of the cars they owned were designed\Nto drive on the right. In fact, 2 out of 3
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.10,0:00:24.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,earthlings drive on the right.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.09,0:00:29.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But why? ... There aren't clear and obvious\Nreasons to choose one side over the other,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.02,0:00:32.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the origin of driving conventions is a\Nperfect opportunity for the mathematics of
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.01,0:00:36.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,game theory and symmetry breaking. Or we can\Njust look at historical evidence.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.03,0:00:41.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today's rules evolved from "driving" livestock\Nand carts on the earliest roads. Archaeologists
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.06,0:00:45.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,view deeper grooves on the left lane leaving\Nan ancient Roman quarry in England as evidence
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.08,0:00:50.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for left-side traffic, since departing wagons\Nwould've had heavier loads. And it's possible
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.03,0:00:54.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this left side convention was in place\Nso right-handed soldiers and knights could
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.03,0:00:57.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,draw their weapons more quickly against passing\Nenemies.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.01,0:01:01.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whatever the reason, keeping to the left was\Neventually made into law in England in 1835.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.05,0:01:05.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And today, most people who drive on the left\Nside live in countries, like India, South
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.13,0:01:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Africa, and Australia, which were once British\Ncolonies.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.00,0:01:10.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that doesn't explain why the rest of the\Nworld drives on the right.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.09,0:01:15.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some claim that following the French Revolution,\Ndrivers there switched to the right to reject
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.02,0:01:19.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the practices of their overthrown aristocracy,\Nbut others suggest the French drove on the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.05,0:01:24.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right all along. Regardless, driving on the\Nright side of the road did spread across much
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.01,0:01:28.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Europe when Napoleon (and later Hitler)\Nimposed their national driving rules on conquered
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.08,0:01:29.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,territory.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.02,0:01:32.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And other countries voluntarily switched to\Nthe right to align with their neighbors, like
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.91,0:01:37.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sweden in 1967, or to veer away from their\Ncolonial pasts, like Nigeria and Ghana in
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.69,0:01:39.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the 1970s.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.01,0:01:44.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in the US? Well, America owes its right-sided\Nhabit, in part, to the carts and postilion
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.01,0:01:48.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wagons of its early days. Driving either from\Nthe ground or from horseback, right-handed
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.03,0:01:51.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,men preferred to walk or ride on the left\Nside of the horses so they could control the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.87,0:01:55.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,animals with their right hand. As a result,\Nthey drove their wagons to the right in order
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.06,0:01:59.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be seated near the center of the road,\Nto see and steer clear of oncoming traffic.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.08,0:02:03.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's ultimately the point of driving\Nlaws: to keep us safe from the high-speed,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.94,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,two-ton metal projectiles we call cars.