6 ms·

In the automotive trade, a vehicle has a "driver's side" and "passenger side". This only partly solves the ambiguity, because of course some countries drive on

In the automotive trade, a vehicle has a "driver's side" and "passenger side". This only partly solves the ambiguity, because of course some countries drive on the left.

Dylan16807 4y ago
Remember, in the US the inside lane is on the left, and in the UK the inside lane is on the left.
- wiredfool 4y ago
  Inside is where the double yellow is.
  - markus92 4y ago
    Double yellow on the road in the UK? You got jokes my friend.
    - wiredfool 4y ago
      Double yellow means parking bay, right?
noduerme 4y ago
I thought it would be difficult when I bought a car in Australia to manage shifting with my left hand, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. I had been under the impression for some reason that the clutch would be controlled with the right foot. Thank God the pedals are in the same places.
- rcme 4y ago
  Is 1st gear still in the top left position?
  - knifie_spoonie 4y ago
    Yes, the shifting pattern is exactly the same.
    - mr_toad 4y ago
      But usually the wipers and indicator controls are reversed, which can be embarrassing.
      - acherion 4y ago
        And it's not always reversed! Australian-made and Japanese-made cars tend to have indicator on the right stalk, and wipers on the left. European cars tend to have indicators on the left stalk, and wipers on the right. But not always! Case in point: my wife and I live in Australia (have done so all our lives), and my wife had a 2008 Ford Focus, made in South Africa (a RHD country). Indicator stalk was on the left, wiper on the right (aka "European" style). She then upgraded to a 2020 Ford Focus, made in Germany (it's the wagon model), and the wiper is on the left, indicator on the right. Which confuses me, as I drive a BMW, which has indicators on the left and wipers on the right.
        jojobas 4y ago
        Blinkers were always on the outside when most cars had manual transmissions, the opposite would be very inconvenient (and still is). Then somehow Britain didn't challenge the EU regulation that indicators must be on the left regardless of the driving side. Japanese and Korean cars still supply right-hand indicatored-cars to Japan, Australia and New Zealand, yet left-indicatored to the UK, go figure, European ones don't give a shit, so buyers of BMWs and MBs suffer (or enjoy?) being incompatible with the rest.
        acherion 4y ago
        The indicator should be on the outside, so you can change gear (in a manual transmission car) and indicate at the same time. It's just common sense. I am used to the indicators on the left though when driving my BMW, so I experience the classic "wipers instead of indicators" dance many times when I drive my wife's car. As most cars nowadays are automatics, I guess this reasoning is falling out of relevance more and more. I also want to note that not all Australian built cars had wipers on the left and indicators on the right – many GM Holden models like the Kingswood and early Commodore models from the 1980s had them both on the one stalk – that stalk being on the right of course.
- ubermonkey 4y ago
  Yeah, it's a relief to discover that the driver's cockpit (for lack of a better term) is just moved side-to-side wholesale and not flipped -- EXCEPT for the shifter, which remains in the middle. I was surprised how easily my body got used to left-hand shifting, but I will say this: I've been driving stick shifts for nearly 40 years, and never miss a gear in the US. However, driving in the UK I find that left hand is NOWHERE NEARLY AS GOOD at distinguishing 1st from 3rd as my right is. Muscle memory! Steering-column manual shifting (e.g. "three on the tree") is pretty much extinct today, but I assume that the "move the whole driver section over" thing means that column-shifted manuals in the UK were still shifted with the right hand. Does anyone know?
- glxxyz 4y ago
  The first time I drove a manual car back in the UK after a few years driving a manual in Canada I went to change gear and grabbed the door handle.
numbsafari 4y ago
This is how I refer to my dog’s legs/paws… eg, driver side rear would be his back left leg. He’s a sport sedan, so it applies.
gav 4y ago
If you're giving directions to somebody driving, like when reversing into a tricky spot, you can tell them to "turn driver" or "turn passenger" so there's no ambiguity.
- omegabravo 4y ago
  I've heard the term "left hand down", aka turn left but much more explicit.
  - dotancohen 4y ago
    Why not simply "counterclockwise"?
    - rantallion 4y ago
      Depends. Are you referring to the rotation of the wheel or of the car? While I've never heard it used before, the post to which you're replying avoids that ambiguity.
      - dotancohen 4y ago
        I'm referring to the rotation of the wheel. But there is no ambiguity - when the wheel is rotated counter clockwise the vehicle turns (as viewed from above) counter clockwise. That is not coincidence - it is very intuitive to use.
Steve44 4y ago
In the UK I was taught off-side and near side which referred to the sides nearest and away from the kerb as you are driving. That would be localised to which side of the road your location drives on, but not affected by left or right hand drive. I still use is when checking tyre pressures for example, they are handy and unambiguous acronyms. For example Off Side Front ( OSF ) would be the drivers side front mostly.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
Fradow 4y ago
It's a whole lot of weirdness, especially since most interactions in English language on the internet will be with either US or UK people. Sometimes, you want to use passenger/driver side: for example, on my car, brake flushing procedure is always rear passenger first, no matter driving side. And sometime you want to use left/right, which is always assumed to be according to the driver's position (so it's reversed when facing the engine), because some things aren't reversed, no matter the driving side: for example, on my car, the BCM and hood latch are always on the right side (which makes it inconvenient to open the hood for a left-side driving car). P.S.: how do I know for certain? A friend has the exact same model but with opposite driving position because it's a UK import.
midasuni 4y ago
Near side and off side
Lio 4y ago
An interesting thing to note is how this affects the control sticks on a car. Generally the indicators will be operated with the hand that's furthest from the centre so that you can change gear in a manual car and turn the indicators on at the same time. Australia, Japan, New Zealand amongst others all operate their indicators with the right hand. Not in the UK though. Even though we drive on the left our indicators swapped to match other EU[0] countries that drive on the right sometime in the 1980s. I drive a manual car and you just get used to doing both with the same hand. All done via subconscious muscle memory. In fact I never really gave it much though until going round a corner in an automatic hire car in Christchurch, New Zealand. Wipers scraping across a dry screen, my hand desperately hunting for the missing gear stick as other cars hooted at me... - 0. Let's just ignore elephant in the room for now.
denton-scratch 4y ago
Commonly referred to as "offside" and "nearside"; terms I find confusing. I think the nearside is the side near the edge of the road, and the offside is the side near the center of the road.

In the automotive trade, a vehicle has a "driver's side" and "passenger side". This only partly solves the ambiguity, because of course some countries drive on the left.

Dylan16807 4y ago

Remember, in the US the inside lane is on the left, and in the UK the inside lane is on the left.

wiredfool 4y ago
Inside is where the double yellow is.
- markus92 4y ago
  Double yellow on the road in the UK? You got jokes my friend.
  - wiredfool 4y ago
    Double yellow means parking bay, right?

noduerme 4y ago

I thought it would be difficult when I bought a car in Australia to manage shifting with my left hand, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. I had been under the impression for some reason that the clutch would be controlled with the right foot. Thank God the pedals are in the same places.

rcme 4y ago
Is 1st gear still in the top left position?
- knifie_spoonie 4y ago
  Yes, the shifting pattern is exactly the same.
  - mr_toad 4y ago
    But usually the wipers and indicator controls are reversed, which can be embarrassing.
    - acherion 4y ago
      And it's not always reversed! Australian-made and Japanese-made cars tend to have indicator on the right stalk, and wipers on the left. European cars tend to have indicators on the left stalk, and wipers on the right. But not always! Case in point: my wife and I live in Australia (have done so all our lives), and my wife had a 2008 Ford Focus, made in South Africa (a RHD country). Indicator stalk was on the left, wiper on the right (aka "European" style). She then upgraded to a 2020 Ford Focus, made in Germany (it's the wagon model), and the wiper is on the left, indicator on the right. Which confuses me, as I drive a BMW, which has indicators on the left and wipers on the right.
      - jojobas 4y ago
        Blinkers were always on the outside when most cars had manual transmissions, the opposite would be very inconvenient (and still is). Then somehow Britain didn't challenge the EU regulation that indicators must be on the left regardless of the driving side. Japanese and Korean cars still supply right-hand indicatored-cars to Japan, Australia and New Zealand, yet left-indicatored to the UK, go figure, European ones don't give a shit, so buyers of BMWs and MBs suffer (or enjoy?) being incompatible with the rest.
        acherion 4y ago
        The indicator should be on the outside, so you can change gear (in a manual transmission car) and indicate at the same time. It's just common sense. I am used to the indicators on the left though when driving my BMW, so I experience the classic "wipers instead of indicators" dance many times when I drive my wife's car. As most cars nowadays are automatics, I guess this reasoning is falling out of relevance more and more. I also want to note that not all Australian built cars had wipers on the left and indicators on the right – many GM Holden models like the Kingswood and early Commodore models from the 1980s had them both on the one stalk – that stalk being on the right of course.
ubermonkey 4y ago
Yeah, it's a relief to discover that the driver's cockpit (for lack of a better term) is just moved side-to-side wholesale and not flipped -- EXCEPT for the shifter, which remains in the middle. I was surprised how easily my body got used to left-hand shifting, but I will say this: I've been driving stick shifts for nearly 40 years, and never miss a gear in the US. However, driving in the UK I find that left hand is NOWHERE NEARLY AS GOOD at distinguishing 1st from 3rd as my right is. Muscle memory! Steering-column manual shifting (e.g. "three on the tree") is pretty much extinct today, but I assume that the "move the whole driver section over" thing means that column-shifted manuals in the UK were still shifted with the right hand. Does anyone know?
glxxyz 4y ago
The first time I drove a manual car back in the UK after a few years driving a manual in Canada I went to change gear and grabbed the door handle.

numbsafari 4y ago

This is how I refer to my dog’s legs/paws… eg, driver side rear would be his back left leg. He’s a sport sedan, so it applies.

gav 4y ago

If you're giving directions to somebody driving, like when reversing into a tricky spot, you can tell them to "turn driver" or "turn passenger" so there's no ambiguity.

omegabravo 4y ago
I've heard the term "left hand down", aka turn left but much more explicit.
- dotancohen 4y ago
  Why not simply "counterclockwise"?
  - rantallion 4y ago
    Depends. Are you referring to the rotation of the wheel or of the car? While I've never heard it used before, the post to which you're replying avoids that ambiguity.
    - dotancohen 4y ago
      I'm referring to the rotation of the wheel. But there is no ambiguity - when the wheel is rotated counter clockwise the vehicle turns (as viewed from above) counter clockwise. That is not coincidence - it is very intuitive to use.

Steve44 4y ago

In the UK I was taught off-side and near side which referred to the sides nearest and away from the kerb as you are driving. That would be localised to which side of the road your location drives on, but not affected by left or right hand drive. I still use is when checking tyre pressures for example, they are handy and unambiguous acronyms. For example Off Side Front ( OSF ) would be the drivers side front mostly.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

Fradow 4y ago

It's a whole lot of weirdness, especially since most interactions in English language on the internet will be with either US or UK people. Sometimes, you want to use passenger/driver side: for example, on my car, brake flushing procedure is always rear passenger first, no matter driving side. And sometime you want to use left/right, which is always assumed to be according to the driver's position (so it's reversed when facing the engine), because some things aren't reversed, no matter the driving side: for example, on my car, the BCM and hood latch are always on the right side (which makes it inconvenient to open the hood for a left-side driving car). P.S.: how do I know for certain? A friend has the exact same model but with opposite driving position because it's a UK import.

midasuni 4y ago

Near side and off side

Lio 4y ago

An interesting thing to note is how this affects the control sticks on a car. Generally the indicators will be operated with the hand that's furthest from the centre so that you can change gear in a manual car and turn the indicators on at the same time. Australia, Japan, New Zealand amongst others all operate their indicators with the right hand. Not in the UK though. Even though we drive on the left our indicators swapped to match other EU[0] countries that drive on the right sometime in the 1980s. I drive a manual car and you just get used to doing both with the same hand. All done via subconscious muscle memory. In fact I never really gave it much though until going round a corner in an automatic hire car in Christchurch, New Zealand. Wipers scraping across a dry screen, my hand desperately hunting for the missing gear stick as other cars hooted at me... - 0. Let's just ignore elephant in the room for now.

denton-scratch 4y ago

Commonly referred to as "offside" and "nearside"; terms I find confusing. I think the nearside is the side near the edge of the road, and the offside is the side near the center of the road.