please empty your brain below
Except in the West End where all the tourists keep right...

Not that I've been there much recently.

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 12.10.20 - 7:39 a.m. | #

Well, that's the first I've heard of a rule about keeping left. There have been so many rules, bits of guidance etc. that some don't know the difference and some just can't keep up with the myriad of changes to the rules and bits of guidance. I'm probably in both groups.

Tim W | 12.10.20 - 7:44 a.m. | #

The Highway Code advises pedestrians to stay on the right there is not a separate footpath. It's rule 2 if you want to look it up. I seem to remember this also applying to shared paths but this seem to have disappeared. I would have thought that for consistency this should apply on footpaths as well.

Paul Draper | 12.10.20 - 7:59 a.m. | #

Have similarly never heard of this keep left rule/guidance/suggestion.

Brian Armitage | 12.10.20 - 8:13 a.m. | #

The one place where there really is scope for confusion is the Underground where escalators are always "keep right" but passageways are "keep left".

Steve Rochford | 12.10.20 - 8:13 a.m. | #

I can't recall any official government briefing, where "Pass on the left" has been explained as a thing.

Which is probably why in my local shopping centre it's confusing where in the mall the signs say 'Pass on the right', and yet enter M&S and the there's a one-way system where you pass on the left, exit out of the shop onto high street where it's "Pass on the right", only to walk 10 minutes down the road for a sign on a lamppost to say "Pass on the left".

Or my favourite - at South Ealing Tube Stations - where on the overbridge, there are stickers on the floor saying "Keep to the left", but when you get to the top of the stairs to descend it switches to "Keep right".

Consistency? ah no, for that you needed to vote for a competent government who know how to handle a pandemic. And that's more than a three word slogan, that one.

Geofftech | 12.10.20 - 9:03 a.m. | #

Aside from your anomaly of keeping right on escalators, you drive on the left, you keep to the left on footpaths. It makes it all so much easier and when travelling overseas, note which side of footpaths people walk and follow them. It will make your walking experience a whole lot better. Keeping left is generally observed here in Australia when walking but not always, and then there are those who zigzag while looking at their phone screens.

Andrew | Homepage | 12.10.20 - 9:45 a.m. | #

"those who zigzag while looking at their phone screens" is a definition of "meanderthals".

Tim W | 12.10.20 - 9:55 a.m. | #

I've never seen a rule about this, but it makes sense to me that if you are on either pavement, you should walk on the left (i.e pass right-side-to-right-side) as that puts the person with their back to the traffic further away from it.

Walking on the right on a road with no pavement is different, because it is to ensure you are facing oncoming traffic. You should not encounter people walking the other way, as they will be walking on the other side of the carriageway.

timbo | 12.10.20 - 10:05 a.m. | #

It could also be because the UK is close to places like mainland Europe, where the norm is to keep right. In global cities like London and other tourist hotspots especially, I can see how this would lead to inconsistency and confusion.

Sam | 12.10.20 - 10:14 a.m. | #

Boats pass to the right (port to port), a convention dating back to the days they had vulnerable steer boards on their starboard side.

Walking on the left takes me back to school.

Sarah | Homepage | 12.10.20 - 11:56 a.m. | #

Because keeping left is not a golden rule anywhere except when driving or riding a vehicle on a public highway, that's why.
In some places e.g. escalators, we're even actively encouraged to keep on the right.
Clearer now?!

Neril | 12.10.20 - 4:41 p.m. | #

When my sister first moved to Hamburg she was accosted by a broadside from an old lady's brolly whilst quietly walking along the pavement. Her crime?
Apparently she'd fallen foul of the unknown rule that you should walk along the pavement in the same direction as the nearest traffic flow!
Tube station idiosyncrasies aside, we have it easy here.

JP | 13.10.20 - 5:45 a.m. | #











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