The Economic Naturalist: Why fuel doors are on the driver’s side of some cars but on the passenger’s side of others?

Any driver can be frustrated pulling up for gas only to realize that the gas tank is located on the other side of the car away from the pump. Would car manufacturers intentionally cause this to their prospective buyers and stand the chance of incurring opportunity cost (not to mention the added manufacturing cost)? Frustrating as it may seem, cars have their fuel doors on either side.

Some cars have it on the driver's side and some on the passenger's. I think you already have an idea why this is so. In case you didn't realize or didn't notice at all, Frank points out one good reason.

In some countries (USA, Philippines, etc.) cars drive on the right side of the road. It is more convenient for drivers to turn right, thus they always buy at gas stations they can enter by turning right. Suppose all gas tanks are located on the driver's side, all cars entering the station will have to park at the right side of the pump to load up. During busy hours, cars will have to line up on the right side of the pump only leaving the left side empty. By putting fuel doors on the other side of some cars, drivers can also load up on the left side of the pump thus shortening the waiting time. With this, the shortening the gas loading time greatly outweighs the cost of occasionally pulling up at the wrong side of the pump.