By Nanci Dixon
Ever wonder why the sequence on your car transmission shift and many gas-powered RVs goes Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, then Drive 2 or Low? It is all about safety. Thank Ralph Nader.
Before 1971, it was not the law. It is now. Many vehicles, particularly General Motors and Chrysler, used the P-N-D-L-R (Park, Neutral, Drive, Low, Reverse) sequence.
Ralph Nader brought to attention the fact the driver had to look down at the shifter to go into low when driving. Downshifting and inadvertently going into reverse while driving was not good for safety or the transmission!
Even when moving from a parked position into reverse, if the transmission shift was not lifted enough, vehicles could go forward instead of reverse. It was a huge safety issue when looking back and thinking in reverse and then going forward.
Putting Neutral between Reverse and Drive was safer. U.S. manufacturers put the P-R-N-D-L sequence in effect by 1966 and it became Federal law in 1971. “Location of transmission shift positions on passenger cars. A neutral position shall be located between forward drive and reverse drive positions.”
Even now with electronic shifters, the sequence remains relatively the same. When park is a separate button, neutral still separates drive and reverse.
Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and McLarens are all different configurations, but it is still hard to accidentally shift into reverse when wanting to go forward.
Now, where is Ralph Nader for RV safety?
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Thanks for the history lesson!
We had a a Kia Sportage, don’t remember if it was a 22 or 23 model. It had a dial shifter. I couldn’t get use to it and often turned the dial in the wrong direction of what I wanted to go. Almost hit things a couple times. Too many new vehicles with screwy shifters now a days.
Back in the early 70s, my dad had a gas station in Fresno. My brother-in-law worked there, also, and drove a ’63 Cadillac that was PNDLR shift pattern. One day he became angry over something and stormed out to his car, started it and pulled the shifter down as though a later model PNRDL, mashed the accelerator, and proceeded.to quickly back into the guard rail behind his car. We all had a good laugh.
Since the Statute of Limitations is now over, in the 1960s I can say I was drag racing on the street in my ’57 Chevy with the PNDLR. I thought I was in D and was pulling it down to L but I was in L and pulled it down to R. A screech of tires and loss of race but luckily the transmission was okay.
Hi, Impavid. Lucky you didn’t blow the transmission! (And lucky that was before your career as an RCMP.) Fortunately for me and my vehicles, all my “street racing” was in a vehicle with an automatic transmission, so I didn’t have to worry about that. My two most memorable races were against a cop (I won, and then “won” again when he didn’t give me a ticket, just a grin). And then I beat a Corvette off the line when I was driving my old ’75 Suburban (he gave me a thumbs up when I slowed down and he caught up to me). I think I won both of those races because I caught them off guard.🤔🤣 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
Born in ’45. Driver’s license in 1961. Worked at a downtown multi-level garage. Business owners would come in, hand me their keys, and walk to their office. I parked the cars for them. REALLY had to look carefully at the shift sequence. Never had an accident. Learned fast,
Great article! I cut my teeth with three on the tree and four on the floor so I really didn’t put any regard to the sequence of selection for the automatics. In fact, my fondest memory of goofy gear picking was a Dodge truck with an automatic that had push buttons. It was so unnatural that it felt like writing with the wrong hand. That big brake pedal was a horrible substitute for a clutch pedal….LOL
Dad’s ’56 Plymouth with push buttons. One night out with my girl on a back road doing about 15 mph and wondered what would happen if I pushed R. Car just stopped and scared me to death, because I knew that would be coming IF I got home. Pushed N then D and Dad never knew.
Corvair had a little lever on the dash that you pushed up or down to select gears. I guess that made Nader really mad at that car.
In the mid 60’s I somehow acquired an old Dodge with a push button transmission on the dash (maybe 1955 vintage) The car cost about $50 bucks well used. It was a fun car that I just recalled earlier this year when I bought a new car also with a push button transmission (2025 style) but the 2025 car cost me 1000 times more than the 1955 Dodge. The buttons have the same result LOL.