Front Seat vs Back Seat Where do you stand?

[John in Covina]

Well actually where do you sit?

In my life my concepts about automobiles and the sense of traveling has moved to the need to sit in the front seat in any car truck or van I am traveling in as a passenger. Over time many vehicles have such reduced room in the back seat as to send a sense / fear of being trapped in a car, etc. It doesn't apply to spacious vehicles at all, however these days so few people actually own spacious vehicles...

If you are old enough to recall when cars were actually automobiles that offered room to spare, do you find a reluctance to sitting in the back seat?

 

[Gregg Axley]

As a child I was in the "wayback" seat in the wagon.
Then as I got older I was promoted to the backseat, when even as a teen I prefered that area.
Why? Because if we were getting into trouble, I didn't want to be the first person the cops saw.
Nowdays, I have to agree with you John. I'm somewhat short, but I don't like the backseat because it's too confined.

 

[Rathdown]

The best rear leg room seems to be in American cars manufactured before 1980, and all Citroen DS automobiles. My favorite back seat ride is the current Jaguar long wheel base XJ saloon. Roomier than my last Bentley.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I was a very small child I rode in a cardboard box in the middle of the front seat of our Nash. When I got a little older, they turned the box upside down and I sat on top of that, so I got used to riding up front at an early age.

I never liked riding in the back seat, because when my sister and brother got to acting up my mother would take one hand off the wheel and start swinging her fist around at random into the back, and didn't much care who she hit, figuring rule by terror was a good way to maintain discipline. It worked, but innocent bystanders easily got hurt.

 

[vitanola]

Back seat.

The front passenger seat in either of the Ford Tudor sedans was designed, I think, by Torquemada, so of course the back seat!

I only wish that I could afford a nice Baker or Rausch and Lang so that I might drive from the back seat, and "enjoy the social features of motoring" with my (rear-facing) front seat passengers.

 

[ortega76]

Given that I am the shortest, smallest guy in many situations, I am usually relegated to the backseat.

 

[John in Covina]

When I was a very small child I rode in a cardboard box in the middle of the front seat of our Nash. When I got a little older, they turned the box upside down and I sat on top of that, so I got used to riding up front at an early age.

I never liked riding in the back seat, because when my sister and brother got to acting up my mother would take one hand off the wheel and start swinging her fist around at random into the back, and didn't much care who she hit, figuring rule by terror was a good way to maintain discipline. It worked, but innocent bystanders easily got hurt.

I always remember the vague threat: "Don't make me stop this car!"

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Whether front, or back, I despise being in a car. Absolutely hateful things. Claustrophobic, smelly, and generally with an aggravated/overly angry person behind the wheel. I don't know what it is that makes people behave so badly as soon as they have a steering device (cyclists and motorcyclists are just as bad) in their hands.[huh]

 

[Justin B]

As a child, always the backseat. My mother was like Lizzie's, and would flail anyone in the backseat were it to become unruley. As an adult, I don't ride as a passanger given any other choice. I drive myself thank you.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Easy question for me to answer. I only want to sit in the driver's seat. I'm am far more exhusted at the end of a long ride than I am at the end of a long drive.

AF

 

[Edward]

Whether front, or back, I despise being in a car. Absolutely hateful things. Claustrophobic, smelly, and generally with an aggravated/overly angry person behind the wheel. I don't know what it is that makes people behave so badly as soon as they have a steering device (cyclists and motorcyclists are just as bad) in their hands.[huh]

lol It's something I don't miss. I hated driving - in fact, my major motivation to pass my test was so that I didn't have to keep going for lessons. The last I thought about it, it's still the case that I drove more in the fortnight before my test than in the nearly nineteen years since. Back in the Old Country, it wasn't an option - public transport over there is so limited in terms of coverage (and the service back then - improving now - in the areas it did cover was so poor), it was the only real way of getting around. You either were limited or you bought a car. The last time I drove was the night before I left for London. Don't miss it one bit. If ever I came into stupid money, it might be nice to have a hobby car, but compared to the convenience and ease of public transport where I am, a car would be nothing but an over-priced liability. Weirdly enough, now I think about it I'm rarely ever in a car. I think I do it more often when I'm abroad - back in the Six Counties, obviously, or when I'm away for work. I virtually never take a cab, even, in London. What I have noticed is I feel queasy sitting in a car much faster now that would have been the case when I travelled that way regularly.

Because 99% of the time I'm in a car now it's a cab, I'm typically in the back seat. I'd rather be on a bus, though.

 

[tonyb]

Front seat or back seat, where do you stand? he asks.

I stand in neither. I figure they put the seats there for a reason.

Seriously, though, I'm with Atticus. If I'm in a car, I'd just as soon be driving it (unless, of course, I happen to be in the company of a girl who knows how to make hanging out in a parked car an intriguing experience). I can drive all day and half the night and be ready for more come morning. I prefer it to flying, generally, provided I have the spare time.

I don't believe I'm an unusually skillful motorist, but I am mindful of hazards and the presence of law-enforcement personnel, and my driving record reflects that. (Indeed, I'm thankful for that police presence; if not for it, the chaos and carnage on the roads would render them unfit for any but the suicidal.) I've ridden with many people who weren't so mindful, and I'd rather spare myself the anxiety of riding with them.

 

[gtdean48]

Since my son turned 15 about 8 years ago, I've ride mostly in the back seat.
I like it back there...feel like I have a driver plus there is room for my hat on the seat next to me...

 

[Edward]

Since my son turned 15 about 8 years ago, I've ride mostly in the back seat.
I like it back there...feel like I have a driver plus there is room for my hat on the seat next to me...

15?? Jinkies, I thought it was set federally at sixteen, but obviously not. Seems very young. We can drive from seventeen, though to be honest based on my own contemporaries a lot of them would have benefited from having to start at eighteen. Or not at all in a couple of cases.

 

[gtdean48]

15?? Jinkies, I thought it was set federally at sixteen, but obviously not. Seems very young. We can drive from seventeen, though to be honest based on my own contemporaries a lot of them would have benefited from having to start at eighteen. Or not at all in a couple of cases.

In 2005, Learner's Permit at 15, Limited Driver's License at 16 (or 1 year + 1 day from getting Learner's Permit)....

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I know. I don't think I've been i a car since I've been back from Hong Kong. Those crazy cabbies will drive any desire to be in one out of even the most hardened petrol freak.

lol It's something I don't miss. I hated driving - in fact, my major motivation to pass my test was so that I didn't have to keep going for lessons. The last I thought about it, it's still the case that I drove more in the fortnight before my test than in the nearly nineteen years since. Back in the Old Country, it wasn't an option - public transport over there is so limited in terms of coverage (and the service back then - improving now - in the areas it did cover was so poor), it was the only real way of getting around. You either were limited or you bought a car. The last time I drove was the night before I left for London. Don't miss it one bit. If ever I came into stupid money, it might be nice to have a hobby car, but compared to the convenience and ease of public transport where I am, a car would be nothing but an over-priced liability. Weirdly enough, now I think about it I'm rarely ever in a car. I think I do it more often when I'm abroad - back in the Six Counties, obviously, or when I'm away for work. I virtually never take a cab, even, in London. What I have noticed is I feel queasy sitting in a car much faster now that would have been the case when I travelled that way regularly.

Because 99% of the time I'm in a car now it's a cab, I'm typically in the back seat. I'd rather be on a bus, though.

 

[Edward]

In 2005, Learner's Permit at 15, Limited Driver's License at 16 (or 1 year + 1 day from getting Learner's Permit)....

Very young start, but good idea to have that lengthy learning period. I knew a guy who booked his test in advance, for three weeks from his birthday. Scary driver that first year.

I know. I don't think I've been i a car since I've been back from Hong Kong. Those crazy cabbies will drive any desire to be in one out of even the most hardened petrol freak.

Ha/ Scariest cab ride I ever had was in Brussels. I tipped the driver because I was just so pleased I wasn't dead.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I honestly can't recall the last time I rode in a car, rather than driving it. Maybe the cab I took to and from an oral surgery appointment a few years ago. I've never had anyone drive me in my car, so I can't say -- I'd probably be pretty nervous to turn my car over to someone else, so I'm sure I'd prefer the front seat in that unlikely case.

As a kid, I found sitting in the front passenger seat to be a mark of distinction, rather than being relegated to the back of the '58 Impala or the '66 Super Sport.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Front seat. When I was in high school many of my friends had Volkswagens and I hated riding in the back, especially when wedged in between two other people which was invariably the case.

 

[Carl Miller]

Front seat. When I was in high school many of my friends had Volkswagens and I hated riding in the back, especially when wedged in between two other people which was invariably the case.

Or riding in the back of a vw on the passenger side and having the seat frame short out on the battery thus catching the horsehair padding on fire.

Been there done that.