I’m left-handed, and this is something I’ve never thought about; I’ve lived fifty-one years in our dominant right-hand world, so I’ve always made do with things.
When I learned to drive, I never thought about it, but what I do know is that it wasn’t hard for me to learn to drive. I did quite well and passed my driver’s ed class with flying colors. I even made a perfect three-point turn the first time I tried it. Now, that doesn’t say that I or any other left-hander is a better driver than our right-handed counterparts.
New skills are more comfortable to learn than something you’ve been doing one way and try to learn to do another. Such as crocheting. I taught myself the basics using my right hand after failing to learn to crochet left-handed. I couldn’t get it. It was backward for even my awkward, left-handed brain.
Let’s get back to driving.
What makes left-handers better drivers?
The AA Driving School in the UK states Left-Handers are the best drivers. They found that left-handers are ten percent more likely to pass their driver’s test the first time than their right-hand counterparts.
Left-handers appear to have a natural advantage when it comes to driving. Only five percent of left-handed drivers believed their handedness made learning to operate a vehicle harder. Twenty-seven percent of left-handers believe that cars are right-hand oriented. That may be due to the side of the road those in the UK drive on compared to the US and other countries where we drive on the right rather than the left. Though that is my opinion and not a fact, it makes sense to me.
The AA Driving School found that most left-handed drivers are also left-footed as well. The instructors noted this when teaching manual transmission. Clutch and gear control are the hardest things to learn. Left-handers seem to pick this up quicker than their right-handed counterparts. Right-handers seem to have a more difficult time with the shifter than left-handers. I’ll step in here and say that it looks like left-handers more easily shift (no pun intended) into different thinking. In other words, it seems more comfortable for a left-hander to learn to change gear with their left hand in a car with the driver’s side on the right, but it’s just as simple for them to learn to use their right hand to shift in a car with the driver’s side on the left.
Best left-handed drivers in history:
Ayrton Senna: Formula 1 driver. Three-time world champion.
Valentino Rossi: Nine times MotoGP motorbike champion.
Buzz Aldrin: Apollo 11 pilot on the first human-crewed mission to go to the Moon.
Chewbacca the Wookie of Star Wars fame was the co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon. Who knew Chewbacca was left-handed?
The director of the AA Driving School, Simon Douglas, commented that it was hypothesized that left-handers are quicker to learn than right-handers. Looking back through history, some of the most critical drivers in the world are or were left-handed.
More evidence
A ten-year study done by The Center for Handedness Research in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and The Zebra, an online insurance company, found that left-handers are better drivers. They measured the driving habits and accident rates of 1,500 drivers over the ten years. They determined that left-handers cause fewer accidents than their right-handed counterparts.
The author of the study, Glenn Haversham, stated several factors might contribute to left-handed drivers’ superior driving skills. We drive on the right in the US, leading to left-handed drivers using their instincts and changing them as their driving situations change. Left-handed drivers’ instincts may always be in a heightened state when they drive to react to sudden threats on the road. Cars are designed for the most part for right-handed drivers in the US. The design may allow right-handed drivers to become complacent but leave left-handers to rely on their non-dominant hand, making them more aware of what they need to do with their right hand. As most of us know, our non-dominant hand can make us feel like a kid learning to write.
When this study first began, they measured only the number of accidents a driver caused. However, in recent years they changed as the usage-based insurance monitors came into use. Using these monitors, Haversham and his team looked at how often left-handers slammed on their brakes, drive between midnight and four am, and even looked at how precise they were at a three-point turn.
This study corroborates an earlier study that proved left-handed people learn to drive faster and more successfully than right-handed people. This research and other studies may show that left-handers have an advantage in many life areas, including sports. So, what this tells us is that maybe we shouldn’t feel so backward. However, as long as right-handers dominate the world, it seems left-handers will always be awkward.
The study may have an impact in terms of car insurance rates for lefties. Joshua Dziabiak, COO of The Zebra, an online comparison shopping tool for car insurance, says. “Our left-handed customers have seen their rates drop immediately,” he says.
Conclusion
After looking at these studies, it shows that left-handed drivers in the US and the UK seem to be better drivers than their right-handed counterparts. As a left-hander, I find that good news and an exciting topic. I’d love to see a more in-depth study on left-handers, not only on being better drivers but on all aspects of life. I never balked at the left-handedness I had when I came into the world. When my mother had me set the table, everyone got their table set up as left-handers. I was left-handed, and that was how it was going to be. I still set the table with my left hand in mind. When I drive, I’m always cautious. If that is what makes left-handers the better drivers, we have to be cautious because we are in a dominant right-hand world. What do you think? Are you left-handed? How has your experience with driving been? Was it hard for you to learn?