Why do the english drive on the left?

Research in 1969 by J.J. Leeming showed that countries that drive on the left had a lower accident rate than countries that drive on the right, but this research is sharply criticized in Peter Kincaid's book on the rule of the road. Some countries that have switched to driving on the right (such as Sweden) saw their long term accident rates increase by more than any increase in traffic volumes. It has been suggested, but not proven, that this is partly because it is more common to be right-eye dominant. Traffic flows in a clockwise direction when driving on the left which enables right eyed people to use the right eye to see oncoming traffic. When overtaking on a right-side-driving road, the right-eyed driver looks in the wing mirror with the left eye and also views the oncoming traffic with the left eye which is not suited to the majority right-eyed people.