So that you don't get so close to the gas pump that YOU cannot even open YOUR own door to get out and fill up

 

It's on the driver's side but, the car is so darn tiny that I can back it in (which is what I normally do) or nose it in...and the charging cable will still reach.

But, I do agree that every car (especially any rental car!!!!) should be required to have that little arrow on the fuel gauge, pointing to which side the gas cap (or capless hole) is on.

 

I usually am not on the side of just adding more Federal regulations to new cars mindlessly. As an example, I didn't really see the need to add the high-mounted center-red stoplight in back (the two regular brake lights already flashed bright red when the brakes are applied...and if one could not see that, then they shouldn't have a drivers' license).

But I have to agree that the idea of the government requiring all American-spec vehicles to have the gas filler system on one side or the other does make some sense. At crowded gas stations (like the Shell station hear my house, my regular station), it can be a real mess when vehicles with both left and right-mounted filler-pipes constantly jockey in and out, left and right, U-Turn and back-up, for position around the pumps....especially on Fridays and Saturdays, when everybody and their brother seems to gas up. Having all (or most) of the vehicles equipped one way, though not a perfect solution, would make things a whole lot easier.

As I said earlier, auto manufacturers give the excuse, on American-market cars, that passenger-side filler pipes are there for safety reasons.....that the left side of a car is more likely to get sideswiped in an accident (and exposed to a potential pipe-rupture and fire) than the right. That might (?) ultimately be true, but I think a more likely reason is which side it is cheapest to use on for any given vehicle, on the assembly line, at the factory. A Federal regulation would settle the question once and for all.

 

Gas Tanks: Why Aren’t All Fuel Doors on the Same Side?

http://blog.allstate.com/gas-tanks-a...el-doors-side/

 

Haha so true!