# Pedal configuration in RHD cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418 "2013-12-15T22:53:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/1 "2013-12-15T22:53:44Z")
Silly question; but I’ll ask anyway, since there are people here who know. In a right-hand-drive car, what is the pedal configuration? Left-to-right: clutch, brake, accelerator? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/2 "2013-12-15T22:54:27Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/3 "2013-12-15T22:55:11Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Yes. That’s what I thought. But better to know than to guess! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/4 "2013-12-15T23:29:12Z")
I could have added that 1912 Stutz Bearcats, being right-hand drive even in North America, were/are, left to right: clutch, accelerator, brake (just in case you’re kicking the tires on a 1912 Stutz). Though I’d suggest a 1913. Those have electric starters. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/5 "2013-12-16T16:52:12Z")
Like Kenm noted, there are a few exceptions. I drove RHD cars for a few years. Even though the pedals are in the same arrangement, it still takes some getting use to. The wheel well hump causes the gas pedal to be a few inches towards the center (to the left) of the car especially in some smaller vehicles. In most LHD cars, the gas pedal is usually straight ahead of the driver’s right leg. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/6 "2013-12-16T16:54:13Z")
I can well believe the above, being English and having driven a LHD rental car on holiday this year. But it was reaching for the gearstick that kept catching me out. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/7 "2013-12-16T16:56:28Z")
Also worth noting that the (manual) gear layout is the same LHD to RHD as well. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/8 "2013-12-16T17:04:12Z")
For your further information - in Europe, most cars, left or right hand drive, have the indicator stalk on the left (some Japanese cars being the exception). There is usually another stalk for the lights, which can be either side, and a third stalk on the right for the wipers. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/9 "2013-12-16T17:07:48Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Also worth noting that the (manual) gear layout is the same LHD to RHD as well. When I drove a RHD manual car in Ireland, this is what made it challenging. Yes, the layout is the same, but my brain struggled with that – it seems like my brain codes the shift pattern as not, say, “first gear is ‘up and left’”, but as “first gear is ‘up and towards me’”. I had no end of, for example, shifting into 2nd gear, when I was shooting for 4th, due to this. That poor, poor rental car… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/10 "2013-12-16T17:17:09Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > I can well believe the above, being English and having driven a LHD rental car on holiday this year. But it was reaching for the gearstick that kept catching me out. :smack: I was mainly concerned that ever time I was reaching to shift I’d end up opening the driver’s door. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/11 "2013-12-16T17:20:38Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I was mainly concerned that ever time I was reaching to shift I’d end up opening the driver’s door. I never did, but no matter how many times I tried I always found the gear shift fairy still hadn’t put the stick where I wanted it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/12 "2013-12-16T17:54:21Z")
The most difficult thing for me with RHD is not the pedals or the shifter. That I never had an issue with. I had some trouble with spatial awareness. I always felt like my car was a little bad farther to the right than it actually was. Took a few days to really accurate start feeling like I was in the right seat rather than left seat of the car. No idea why that was tricky, but the rest wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/13 "2013-12-16T18:46:27Z")
For me, the difficult part was keeping the two left wheels on the road. That and turning on the wipers when I meant to signal a turn. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/14 "2013-12-16T20:54:31Z")
For a while I owned one Japanese and one European car, each with the indicator stalks on opposite sides. Hoo boy. Turned the wipers on every time I went round a corner much to my children’s amusement. I’d just get the hang of it then I’d drive the other car and be completely confused again. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/15 "2013-12-16T21:07:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The most difficult thing for me with RHD is not the pedals or the shifter. That I never had an issue with. I had some trouble with spatial awareness. I always felt like my car was a little bad farther to the right than it actually was. When I drove on Grand Cayman it was in a left hand drive car shipped over from the States, but Cayman drives on the right. Going around traffic circles was an interesting experience in spatial awareness for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedal-configuration-in-rhd-cars/676418/16 "2013-12-17T01:37:02Z")
My friends’ uncle worked for a rich guy who was a bit mad at times. On a whim he bought a retired double decker bus in England and had it shipped to the US. It landed in Miami. Uncle Phil flew down there to drive it back to upstate New York. Now Phil was a farm boy, grew up driving tractors, trucks and trailers all his life. Driving that bus for two days with the steering wheel on the wrong side and the stick shift almost made a big burly man cry like a little girl who just saw her pony get eaten by a random leapord attack.