Wagon trains（19世纪美国西进运动中的）

篷车队滚滚向西

These big wagons, with their tall, arched cloth roofs, became icons of America’s westward expansion as they carried the belongings of pioneers from the east out to the frontier. Back in the early 1700s, though, western Pennsylvania was the distant frontier.

这些高耸的拱形布顶大马车，如同矗立在天地间的移动城堡，是美国向西扩张的生动象征。它们承载着东部拓荒者的梦想与物资，踏上了征服边疆的旅程。然而，在17世纪初，宾夕法尼亚州西部仍是一片遥远的边疆地带。

Conestoga wagons were developed by local carpenters and blacksmiths to carry goods, including farm produce and items bartered from Native Americans, to markets in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was, at the time, one of the biggest cities in the colonies. The wagon driver could ride one of the horses or sit on a “lazy board” that slid out of the side of the wagon. But when more active control was needed, he walked alongside the horses, pulling levers and ropes.

这里的木匠和铁匠们发挥创造力，发明了康涅斯托加马车——一种拥有宽轮和大篷的马车。这种马车被用来将农产品和与美洲原住民交换来的物品运往费城市场。马车夫们可以骑马行驶，或者坐在从马车侧面滑出的“懒人板”上轻松前行。但当需要更灵活的操作时，他们会走到马匹旁边，熟练地拉动杠杆和绳索。

“He would give the verbal command, ‘Gee’, ‘Haul,’ or whatever, and they would hear that,” Stehman said. “He would also maybe tug on this (leather ‘jerk line’) once or twice.”

“马夫只需发出简单的口头命令，‘啧啧’、‘拖’等，马儿就会听从指挥，”康涅斯托加地区历史协会主席John Stehman说道。他的家族自1743年起便在这片土地上耕作。“他们可能还会拽一拽这根皮制‘抽绳’来加强指令。”

I imagined myself walking down a long dusty trail leading a team of horses pulling this blue-painted wagon. I’m right-handed, like most people. For just that reason, Conestoga wagons had the controls on the left side, close to the wagon driver’s right hand. That meant the driver was toward the middle of the road and the wagon to the right.

我脑海中浮现出一幅画面：自己牵着马队，驾驭着这辆蓝漆马车，在尘土飞扬的小路上缓缓前行。和大多数人一样，我也是个右撇子。因此，康涅斯托加马车的控制装置被设计在左侧，紧挨着车夫的右手。这样的设计使得车夫能够站在道路中间，马车则靠右行驶。

Eventually, there was so much trade and traffic between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia that America’s first major highway was created. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road opened in 1795. Among the rules written into its charter, according the book “Ways of the World ” by M.G. Lay, was that all traffic had to stay to the right — just like the Conestoga wagons did.

随着时间的推移，宾夕法尼亚州兰开斯特县与费城之间的贸易和交通量日益繁忙，以至于美国的第一条主要公路应运而生。1795年，费城和兰卡斯特匝道公路正式开通。根据M.G. Lay所著的《Ways of the World》一书所述，该公路的章程明确规定，所有车辆必须靠右行驶——这与康涅斯托加马车的行驶方式不谋而合。

In 1804, New York became the first state to dictate traffic stay to the right on all roads and highways.

1804年，纽约州成为第一个规定在所有道路和高速公路上靠右行驶的州份。

Some people credit Henry Ford with standardizing US traffic on the right side of the road because, in 1908, Ford Motor Co. put the steering wheel on the left side of the hugely popular Model T. Really, though, Ford was just responding to driving habits that had been largely established long before.

尽管有人赞誉Henry Ford使美国右侧的交通标准化，因为在1908年，福特汽车公司将方向盘放置在广受欢迎的Model T的左侧。然而，事实上，福特只是对早已形成的驾驶习惯作出了回应。

The really weird thing is that most of the rest of Europe, besides Britain, drives on the right like Americans do.

令人感到奇怪的是，除了英国之外，欧洲大部分国家都与美国一样选择靠右行驶。

Napoleon’s march through Europe
拿破仑横扫欧洲

Why are the British outliers even on their own continent? Credit, or blame, the French.

那么，为什么英国人即使在自己的大陆上也显得与众不同呢？这背后的原因要归功于法国人。

The French revolutionary government under Maximilien Robespierre — best known for leading the late 18th-century “Reign of Terror” in which thousands were guillotined — dictated that everyone should drive on the right.

在Maximilien Robespierre领导的法国革命政府时期，因领导18世纪末的“恐怖统治”而闻名于世。在这场恐怖统治中，成千上万的人被送上了断头台。

The left side of the road was, by long cultural convention, reserved for carriages and those on horseback. In other words, the wealthier classes. Pedestrians, i.e. poorer folks, kept to the right. Forcing everyone to the same side of the road, besides being good for traffic, was part of doing away with these snobby class distinctions.

根据长期形成的文化传统，道路的左侧是专为马车和骑马者设计的。换句话说，这是富裕阶层的专属通道。而行人，即穷人，则被迫靠右行走。除了方便交通之外，迫使所有人都靠道路的同一侧行走也是消除这些基于财富的阶级差别的一部分。

The upper classes likely went along since, in those days, being seen as aristocratic was not only unfashionable, it was rather dangerous. (See above about guillotines.)

上层阶级可能也会这样做，因为在当时，被视为贵族不仅不合时宜，而且相当危险。

The French policy is said to have been spread by Napoleon as his armies marched through Europe. Some evidence for this can be found by looking at a map of the Napoleonic empire in 1812.

据说，法国的政策是通过拿破仑的军队在欧洲行军时传播开来的。看看1812年拿破仑帝国的地图就能找到一些证据。

There is one nation that was neither a subject nor ally of Napoleon. That would be Sweden. Sweden drove on the left, up until one surprisingly uneventful day in 1967 when drivers there switched to the right.

然而，有一个国家既不是拿破仑的臣民，也不是他的盟国。那就是瑞典。瑞典一直保持着靠左行驶的习惯，直到1967年一个平凡无奇的日子，那里的司机才决定改为靠右行驶。

Britain, literally, went the other way from France.

相比之下，英国却与法国背道而驰。

Historian Lay’s notion is that it had to do with the different types of conveyance used. There were fewer industrial-sized wagons in Britain, and more small carriages and individual horse riders. Horse riders preferred to stay to the left to keep their right hands toward oncoming traffic for greetings and, if needed, fighting.

历史学家Lay认为，这与两国使用的运输工具类型不同有关。在英国，工业规模的马车较少，而小型马车和个人骑马者则更为普遍。骑马者更喜欢靠左行驶，这样可以将右手伸向迎面而来的车辆，以便打招呼或在必要时进行战斗。

Hazardous driving
危险驾驶

Whatever the reasons, there are sometimes real consequences to switching sides and there have been serious crashes.

无论出于何种原因，选择靠哪一侧行驶有时会带来意想不到的后果，甚至导致严重的撞车事故。

William Van Tassel, AAA’s head of driver training, recommends that drivers take extra steps to concentrate when driving on the other side. For one thing, keep the radio off.

美国汽车协会驾驶培训负责人William Van Tassel建议，当驾驶员需要换边行驶时，应该采取额外的预防措施并集中注意力。他建议首先关闭收音机。

“I think it’s fine to talk to yourself, while you’re driving over there. That kind of forces you to be focusing on driving,” he said. “OK, tight left or far right. Check for traffic from the right rather than the left. Whatever it is, whatever works.”

“我认为，在换边开车时，可以自言自语。这样做有助于你更加专注于驾驶，”他说道，“好的，紧贴左侧或右侧行驶。注意右侧的交通情况，而不是左侧。无论采用什么方法，只要有效就行。”

At Avis Budget Group, which rents lots of cars to Americans driving in the United Kingdom, rental agents make sure to remind customers about driving on the left. They take other steps, too.

在Avis Budget Group，这家向在英国驾车的美国人提供大量租赁汽车的公司，租车代理会提醒客户注意靠左行驶的规定。他们甚至还采取了其他措施来确保安全。

“In addition, all of our vehicles throughout the UK have ‘Drive on the left’ stickers and in major locations we hand out Drive on the left wristbands, which we advise our customers to always wear on the left wrist as a reminder of which side of the road to drive,” Avis Budget said in a statement.

Avis Budget在一份声明中表示：“此外，我们在英国的所有车辆上都贴有‘靠左行驶’的贴纸，并在主要地点发放靠左行驶的腕带。我们建议客户始终将腕带戴在左手腕上，以提醒自己应该靠哪一侧行驶。”