The switch to right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia was a change in the rule of the road in 1938–1939. Before 1938, Czechoslovakia drove on the left. In 1925, Czechoslovakia accepted the Paris convention and undertook to change to right-hand traffic "within a reasonable time frame". In 1931, the government decreed to change over within five years, which did not happen. The main obstacles were financial cost and widespread opposition in rural areas. In November 1938, parliament finally decided to change to right-hand traffic with effect from 1 May 1939.

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

The

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of the Czech part of the country by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and its transformation into the German

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

(in German: ''Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren'') on 15 March 1939 sped up the change. A few places switched the same day (e.g.

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

), the rest of the area of the Protectorate on 17 March, and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

got a few more days to implement the change and switched on 26 March. Tramway infrastructure in Prague was modified in November 1938. In the final days there were daily reminders of the change in newspapers and large warnings were painted on the streets and on tramway cars. Drivers adapted quickly and only a small number of traffic accidents happened due to the switch with only one recorded fatality in Prague.{{Citation needed, date=April 2009

Slovakia

Right hand traffic was already introduced in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

by a decree of the government of "autonomous Slovakia" within Czechoslovakia in late 1938. After the creation of the

Slovak State Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arka ...

in March 1939, buses in the capital Bratislava were adapted, and the last roads in Slovakia switched to the new system in 1940/1941. The areas which are nowadays the southern border regions of Slovakia were subsequently part of Hungary (under the terms of the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, which ...

), and did therefore change to right hand traffic as late as 1941, together with the rest of wartime Hungary.

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

Slovakia

See also