Question Of The Day: Why Aren’t Steering Wheels In The Middle?

Question: Why don’t cars have steering wheels in the middle? 

Answer: Well, some do. Like the McLaren F1, picture above. The BAC Mono. The Messerschmitt KR200. But these are hardly mass-market cars. Nearly every vehicle designed, assembled, and sold since the automobile’s introduction over a century ago positioned the driver on either the left or the right side.

Why are those positions the default, and why haven’t more vehicles been developed with center positioning in mind?

Right- or left-hand drive vehicles weren’t always the dominant strain on the road. In the beginning of the automobile’s life, a number of vehicles, such as the 1888 Benz Patent Motor Car, 1900 Oldsmobile Curved Dash, and 1904 Elmore Runabout, the driver did sit in the center. Other vehicles, like the 1905 Peerless 9, would place the driver either toward the curb to prevent bumps and scrapes. Finally, models like the 1907 Brush Runabout would position the driver next to the center of the road so they would have the best line of sight of traffic possible.

It was this center-of-the-road bias which ultimately won out, and has been standard since, though manufacturers have revisited the center-drive position one way or another over the decades, from oddities such as the Peel 150 and Nissan BladeGlider, to more conventional experiments like the Land Rover Centre Steer and the aforementioned McLaren F1.

Yet, the center-drive arrangement could be seen as the best of both worlds, as the driver would be able to see both oncoming traffic and the shoulder of the road equally. On the other hand, the arrangement would leave some visual information on the table, minimizing the benefits within the confines of a standard road car when compared to a track-day or more specialized vehicle.

Aside from possible engineering and safety challenges on a mass scale – along with their associated costs – why did center-position driving wither on the vine? Blame your right eye, for starters. Two-thirds of humans are right-eye dominant, proving beneficial in left-hand traffic since the stronger eye can better monitor oncoming traffic and the driver’s side mirror. In right-hand situations, the same eye can keep track of potential hazards, such as pedestrians, bicycles, and accidents.

The 1953 Alfa Romeo BAT 5 Concept Car had a center-mounted steering wheel. Photo: Flickr, Rex Gray. Aside from right-side dominance, cultural influences steered travellers on all conveyances to either side of the road. For example, in ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome, as well as Edo period Japan, movement was directed toward the left side of the road so as to allow two opponents on horseback to draw their weapons from the right, and to provide proper defense; in the case of Japan, it was so samurai could pass each other without clashing their own swords.
This gravitation towards the left became custom, then eventually law of the land, with physical evidence – such as a well-preserved path connected to a Roman quarry near Swindon, England – bearing this out. Additionally,those leading horses or horses pulling carts traditionally lead their animals from the right, using their left hand to hold the harness, and their right hand to calm the horse when needed. Further, those who drove stagecoaches and wagons drove on the left while cracking their whips with the right hand; left-side driving prevents the whip from snagging hedges et al on a given road’s boundary.