Eli5: Why is a cars drivers seat not positioned in the middle?
In: 50
Because driving on a public road is different than driving an obstacle course. The main benefit of sitting in the middle (in axis) is that both sides of the vehicle are equally far from you, and you see them equally well. Or, in the case that we just took a regular car and stucked the driver in the middle, equally badly.
Something like this would be beneficial if you wanted to perform acrobatic maneuvers or drive through hoops at high speed or something, because your brain wouldn’t have to compensate for you sitting to the side to evaluate the distances and angles. But you don’t need to do that, do you? What you do need, is to to see the road ahead of you well. That’s why drivers are seated towards the middle of the road (there’s no more road on the other side).
Also, if we put the driver in the middle, it would be harder to fit another seat there. Which isn’t a big deal for an F1 car, but it is a big deal for normal consumer cars.
Latest Answers