The Only Road in London Where You Must Drive on the Right
The only road in London where you have to drive on the right
While Londoners are accustomed to driving on the left, Savoy Court stands as a unique exception where vehicles must drive on the right. This private road leading to The Savoy hotel was designed to streamline taxi drop-offs for theater-goers and prevent congestion at the entrance. Historical theories suggest the arrangement also catered to passengers in horse-drawn carriages, though modern traffic management now relies on ground markings to guide drivers safely.
It allows taxis dropping off theatre-goers to avoid blocking the hotel entrance and conveniently pick up guests wishing to travel elsewhere in our magnificent city.
- yzydserd
It’s nearby London’s last sewer powered gas lamp.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/F...
- jemmyw
> There's only one spot in London where you'll have to drive like much of the rest of the world
That makes it sound like Britain is the only place with left side traffic. 35% of the world population live in countries where they drive on the left side.
- garciansmith
There are some spots in the US where you drive on the left, albeit for a short distance and the road is divided. Still messes with my brain. E.g., here in the northern suburbs of Detroit (W. Big Beaver going under I-75): https://www.google.com/maps/@42.5620634,-83.1581674,18z
- KaiserPro
So near the savoy is a semi circle road https://www.google.com/maps/search/bush+house/@51.5128306,-0... which feels like a round about and and you are forced to enter it from the wrong way.
In fact driving in central london is a unique skill that I unwittingly mastered as I learnt to drive in zone one.
This means that I can out manoeuvrer a pissed off white van man in a hurry. Its like chess but more angry and slightly slower.
- Oarch
I watched a Waymo try to take this on last night. It drove on the left.