Did you know? Hungary introduced right-hand traffic 80 years ago

Nowadays, it is strange if someone sees a car, for example, from England on the streets of Hungary where the wheel is on the right-hand side of the vehicle. However, this was not always the case. Vehicles had to circulate on the left-hand side of the streets until 1941, even in Hungary. Why did that change? Details below.

According to Pesti Srácok, countries chose right-hand traffic one after the other after WWI. It started with Soviet Russia right after the war, and in the 1930s, all of Hungary’s neighbours opted for that system.

Interestingly, in 1941, Hungary was the last but one. Only Sweden introduced right-hand traffic later, in 1967.

Officially, in Hungary, drivers had to commute on the right-hand side of the streets after July 6, 1941.

However, the change was not implemented in Budapest where the rule was introduced only on November 9.

Based on Pesti Srácok, nobody knows the reasons why people used to commute on the left-hand side. Many say that it is a Roman heritage. Others claim that the right hand had to be free to hold a sword and fight, so people went on the left-hand side of the streets.

The first ruler who introduced right-hand traffic was Napoleon I. However, the rule applied only to public roads. That is why in France, the railway commutes on the left side.

There is only one exception in Hungary: the HÉV (Budapest Railway of Local Interest) of Gödöllő.

After the Napoleonic wars, many countries returned to left-hand traffic. Among them, there was Austria and Hungary.

But why did Hungary choose right-hand traffic in 1941?

There were multiple reasons, including the German orientation (where right-hand traffic was already in effect), or the territories Hungary got back from Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and where there was already right-hand traffic.

The ministry responsible for the issue wanted to introduce the new rules in 1939, but the outbreak of WWII hindered that. Finally, the change happened on July 6, 1941, at 3 am outside Budapest and on November 9, 1941, at 3 am in Budapest and its neighbourhood.

Interestingly, the transition was easy.

Only one accident was noted.

A conductor fell out from the train because he leaned against the wrong door. However, the new rules cost a lot of money because many buses needed “new” doors on their other side. 

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