Speaking for myself, I don’t like mine hanging it all, so I tie it in a knot.
.
I seldom actually laugh out loud at the computer. I just did.
.
My vehicle’s gas cap is on the side of righteousness.
My new Fiat 500 has it on the right. (Indeed, opposite the muffler.)
Wow, what a way to screw up a poll that would have been interesting by making the options completely ambiguous. Left and right can mean anything, depending on where you’re standing. The options should read “driver side” and “passenger side” (obviously, for UK types this means the opposite side of the vehicle but it would still be the more important distinction than “left” or “right”).
2007 Toyota Camry ----Left (drivers side), Indeed opposite the muffler… i never noticed that before.
It’s on the opposite side from your gas cap!
Huh? Most people have no trouble interpreting it as ‘left or right when sitting as one normally does inside the car - facing forward’. Do “no left turn” signs on the road routinely stump you?
As you yourself note, “driver’s side” and “passenger side” is different if you are in the UK.
I can’t answer the poll. I have two vehicles; one has the gas cap on the passenger side (Nissan, opposite the muffler); the other on the driver’s side (Ford, closer to the muffler.)
Also I’d have to get clarification on what the OP means by “left” or “right”.
Yet it’s a more meaningful distinction. I don’t see any reason why “left” and “right” should mean “while sitting in the car” vs. “while looking at the car”, therefore it’s ambiguous.
ETA: by the way, there’s a reason why at sea they don’t refer to the “left” or the “right” side of a ship - because of this very ambiguity. Hence “port” and “starboard”.
Truck and passenger on the Left / Driver (and I didn’t need anyone to explain that to me), and one old muscle car that fills up at the rear.
You may not see a reason, but reason there is. You are imagining an ambiguity that reasonable folks will not be troubled by. In contrast, “driver’s side” creates an actual ambiguity, because it is different in different countries.
Unlike in a car, in a ship folks tend to wander about. They could as easly be facing the stern as the bow at any one moment, so “look to the left!” could indeed be somewhat ambiguous - it could mean “look to my left, as I’m facing right now” or “look to the left side of the ship”.
In a car, unless it is an extremely large or unusual car, this is less of an issue. People tend to be sitting in seats that face forward. It is an easy extrapolation that what is “left” when you are sitting in the car is the “left” side of the car.
Also, any vehicle is usually “sided” by which way the vehicle itself is facing. Would you have any real difficulty identifying if your seats were located on the “left” side of an airplane?
I don’t have a car, but I rent one 3-4 times a year. Some cars have it on the left, others on the right.
Actually yeah. Airplanes are almost universally boarded by passengers facing and walking towards the rear of the vehicle. So saying your seats are on the “left” side would most logically be the ones which are on the right side when facing forward. Still ambiguous.
Why can’t they just put one on each side, with a pipe that merges in the middle? I should patent that idea. I’ll make a killing.
When you’re facing the unambiguous backs of the seats as you walk toward the unambiguous back of the plane, the seats on the left are the seats on your right. I doubt that very many people can’t remember their body has turned around when they’re facing backwards.
But where IS the gas cap on an airliner, anyway?
.
Three cars. One on the right/passenger side and two on the left/driver side. The arrow on the dash works except in the Miata. Not sure why it is different but the gas cap is directly behind the driver but no indication on the dash.
Two vehicles. Both gas caps are on the passenger’s side.
Your doubt is quite misplaced. Try it sometime - tell someone who is currently boarding a plane that their seat is on the left side. 90% chance they will immediately look to their left (i.e. the plane’s starboard side), rather than what you think is the left side of the plane (the port side).
Rigamarole, in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re talking about cars. not planes.