Posted by S. Bear on Monday, July 05, 2004 at 1:56PM :
In Reply to: Door Lock? posted by Robert A in NJ on Monday, July 05, 2004 at 1:32PM :
By having the door lock only on the passenger side, the occupants were forced to enter from the curb side (out of the traffic flow).
It is the same reason that many early fire trucks (like American LaFrance) had the pump operator's panel on the passenger side.
On fire trucks, this safety concern soon became over shadowed by the desire to get the driver pump operator to the pump panel as soon as possible. Therefore, the panel was eventually relocated to the driver's side.
As for the door locks, the inconvenience of having to unlock the passenger side to access the driver's area soon proved too much. Therefore, the locks were relocated to the driver's side, or co-located to both sides on later models.
Thanks and enjoy the drink!
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