Rented Or Borrowed Car - How Can You Tell Which Side To Pump Gas?

[Bimwad at remote location]

papercup wrote:
The automakers intentionally stagger the left/right fueling, or pulling into gas stations would be very difficult with everyone vying for the same side of the filling station island.

There are a number of design considerations used to determine the filler location, but such an objective is not among them.

Doing so would call for an attempt to predict and account for an infinitely random pattern, as well suggesting that some measure of coordination exists inside the industry as to how and when design decisions should be made to accommodate for such a pattern, with no engineering payback whatsoever for the automaker. What about the areas where refueling takes place from roadside pumps and no islands exist?

Not that it would matter anyway. The first and foremost consideration for most drivers when they refuel is to choose the shortest queue, whether it is a station that has pumps with hoses long enough to reach the offside, or not. There are plenty of folks who can't even be bothered to commit to memory which side the filler port is on the vehicle they own. Spend any length of time at a gas station and watch the shuffling and struggles of the absent minded.