Other comments have covered the P-R part. I’ll talk about the D-N part.
You want the neutral to be next to the drive when you drive on icy roads.
If your car starts to slip and you are going down a hill, you want to remove any torque on your wheels and let them run free (aka neutral). This allow better handling and let you retake control faster.
Most car will have the D and N in a line (while R and P will require somewhat of a sidestep) so in case of an emergency, you can slam the stick without thinking and it should move from D to N without risk of hitting R accidentally.
Latest Answers