And why R is before D, making the driver behind you think you are backing up?
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Old cars with mechanical control of the gear selection were easily subject to damage, and dangerous situations. PRND is the safest option. Once that’s decided it should be standardised so every car is equally intuitive to drive.
P at the home position. That’s where you start from, make it standard. R next. When going to P a latch is dropped into the gearbox physically stopping the wheels from turning. You don’t want people going from D to P while pulling up before they’ve yet stopped. You’re unlikely to go to P while still moving backwards, that’s not how people drive.
N between R and D. It doesn’t matter if you go to N while moving. Putting a gap between R and D makes is less likely you’ll accidentally shift accidentally from one to the other.
None of this was fail safe, but a better option than not doing it this way.
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