one car two steering wheels, why is this so hard to find?

[GorillaMan]

@Mathochist

I don’t think so. I took driver’s ed (not in school like back in the 1970s, but with a private company) in 1995. The car for the on-the-road portion of the course did indeed have two full sets of controls, but the instructor’s controls were clearly an aftermarket job. Basically, everything was connected across to the driver’s side (cutting across like Rick described) and could mechanically override the normal set of controls.

Do you really mean two full sets of controls - steering wheel and everything?

A fairly obvious reason for them not being wanted is when the car is used other than for instruction. Brake and clutch dual controls can be locked and/or folded out of the way, and it becomes a normal family car.

@yabob

OK, I’ll try a guess. The other place I can think where it would be convenient is in a vehicle used for something like tube route newspaper deliveries, where you pull up to roadside containers to make pickups or deliveries to them. You want to service your route without reaching across the seat each stop, or driving to and from the route with a right hand drive car.

I’ve seen specialised vehicles with ‘wrong-side’ (being in a RHD country!) setups, such as ones cleaning roadside drains (basically huge vacuum cleaners), where it makes sense to give the driver the ability to have a clear view of the road edge without mirrors.

[Rigamarole]

@Hal_Briston

I always wondered where the burden of proof would fall if a cop pulled the car over to find one of the front seat occupants shit-faced drunk and the other stone-cold sober.

If both have control of the car, I’d think both would be culpable.