More than half of British drivers would prefer the UK to switch to left-hand-drive, according to a survey released today.

Confusion with foreign road rules, and even accidentally driving on the wrong side of the road, is causing UK motorists too many problems according to the data released by insurance comparison website Confused.com

Almost three-quarters of survey respondents (73%) said they `dread' driving abroad because of the potential confusion of local road signage and driving on the other side of the carriageway.

Just under one in five (19%) drivers who have crossed the English Channel say they have accidentally still driven on the left at some point during their trip.

The research also claims that 20% of car trips from the UK to Europe end in a crash or bump, while 66% experience something going wrong with their journey.

As many as 39% say driving on the right is their number one fear when it comes to driving holidays abroad, while 54% want Britain to switch to driving on the right in order to make driving abroad easier.

However, Britain has been a right-hand-drive nation for 300 years, since the days when knights used to pass each other on the left so that their right arm - always the sword arm - was in between them and their opponent.

If tradition isn't a valid reason, finances may be. While Sweden switched to driving on the right in the 1960s and saw large reductions in accidents, the cost involved in such a switch in the UK would be prohibitive.

Benjamin Heydecker, Professor of Transport Studies at Centre for Transport Studies, UCL said: "Changing the UK's vehicles and infrastructures at this stage would be prohibitive from a cost point of view.

"Road-running public transport vehicles (mainly buses) would have to be modified to allow passenger access from the right-hand side of the pavement in order to operate safely, all junctions on two-way roads would need to be rearranged, and motorway interchanges would need to be rebuilt."