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The terms right-hand traffic and left-hand traffic refer to regulations requiring all bidirectional traffic, unless otherwise directed, to keep either to the right or the left side of the road, respectively.〔 〕 This is so fundamental to traffic flow that it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road.〔 〕 Today, about 65% of the world's population lives in countries with right-hand traffic and 35% in countries with left-hand traffic.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Why do some countries drive on the left and others on the right? )〕 About 90% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the right and 10% on the left. Right-hand traffic predominates across the continental landmasses, while the majority of the world's island nations and territories drive on the left. == Terminology == With a few minor exceptions, each country specifies a uniform road traffic flow: left-hand traffic (LHT), in which traffic keeps to the left side of the road, or right-hand traffic (RHT), in which traffic keeps to the right.〔 〕〔(ECE R112 pp. 5–7, 9, 12, 14–15, 22–25, 27, 29–33, 35, 41, 44 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=E/ECE/324 )〕 The terms nearside (or kerbside) and offside (or off-kerb side) are used in some English-speaking countries to refer to the passenger and driver sides (in modern parlance) of a vehicle: the "nearside" is closest to the kerb (in the designated direction of traffic) and the "offside" is closest to the centre of the road.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nearside (dictionary definition) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nearside (dictionary definition) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Offside (dictionary definition) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Offside (dictionary definition) )〕 The preceding terms point up "safe" (nearside) and "unsafe" (offside) portions of vehicles for loading and unloading passengers and cargo. Vehicles are usually manufactured in left-hand drive (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) configurations, referring to the placement of the driving seat and controls within the vehicle.〔(ECE R94 )〕〔(Australian Drivers Training Association ) 〕 Typically, the placement of the steering wheel is on the offside of the vehicle: LHT countries generally require use of RHD vehicles, and RHT countries generally require use of LHD vehicles. This is to ensure that the driver's line-of-sight is as long as possible down the road beyond leading vehicles, an important safety consideration during overtaking (passing) manoeuvres. There are LHT countries where most vehicles are LHD (see Caribbean islands below)—and there are some countries with RHT and mostly RHD vehicles, such as Afghanistan, Burma, and the Russian Far East, in the last case due to import of used vehicles from Japan. Many countries permit both types of vehicles on their roads. Terminological confusion may arise from the terms ''left-hand drive'' or ''right-hand drive'' to indicate the side of the road along which vehicles are driven. Note: Whatever a given vehicle's driver-side configuration (LHD or RHD—this can vary even within one country, e.g. for special postal delivery vehicles), in all cases local laws mandate the position of travel (RHT or LHT), and traffic code penalties for "driving on the wrong side" are often severe (because of the propensity for catastrophic accidents when a driver fails to observe local law). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Right- and left-hand traffic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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