From a traditional Asian perspective:

The female mostly sit in the back while the males are in the front. I believe everyone knows the reason.

Male friend always sits in the front as a courtesy (they're treated very well) and also it's just not right letting the male friend sitting in the back with your kid and wife. However if the friend is female, they go to back with the wife--so they could chat--and the kid go up front with the dad. Note that it's unusual for female friend to sit in the front while the wife sit in the back.

Last but not least, it's considered fucked up if the wife sit in the front giving directions. The dad would be considered to be afraid of the wife--which is not a proud thing.

yet a lot of asians don't have life insurance.

If there is to be any rationale behind all that stuff this is probably as close to a reasonable answer as you are going to get.

make sense i guess in a morbid way.

kinda scary if there are people out there expecting a collision. maybe they shouldn't drive at all.]

The truth! :fullofwin:

The only time I've seen this happening is if there's a baby in the back
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The seat behind the driver is the safest in the car.

maybe we are weird but everyone Ive grown up with obeys the "gf shotgun rule" Girlfriend always gets shotgun in her boyfriends car. It doesnt matter that I am 6'7" Im crawling my ass into the back seat, unless of course the seat is offered to me by said gf

My in-laws do what your saying OP.

Her mother only chooses to sit in the rear passenger seat due to the fact that she hate's his driving. It makes her less anxious by sitting back there. He is a terrible driver from what my SO tells me.

You'll be surprised how many Asian women's rationale behind buying an SUV is "I crashed a small car before and I know I need to crash in a bigger one to be safe"

I just want to punch stupid women like that in the face.

I've never heard of this either. But I joke with my girlfriend that if she doesn't stop rubbing the side bolster when getting in and out of the car and wearing the leather out, I'm going to make her sit in the back. Cars with sports seats are not chick friendly.

I think it has to do with where they're from too. When you hail a cab, you naturally sit at the back right? I'm guessing those people never did grow up with a private vehicle.

I have also never even heard of such a practice...

my mom sits in backseat because in soviet russia, car drives YOU
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i grew up sitting at the front as the eldest son... hell now im driver when I'm back in HK

^

I too grew up sitting in the front with my dad cuz im the eldest son. My dad would used to tell me to recognize roads while he drives. I'm pretty familiar with vancouver, burnaby, and richmond as a result.

This is because my mom doesn't drive at all, so now I got my license and a car, I can drive my mom around so my dad can chill at home. :fuuuuu:

so in other words, the day you get your drivers license in the asian family, you become the family driver

Im taiwanese. our driving arrangements are different (not sure if its cultural or not).

dad drives, moms always in the front passenger. kids in the back.

back seat behind passenger (right side) normally, is referred to as the SUPERIOR seat. that is, a boss, or someone of high importance, will always sit in that spot. (for example, mafia/triad like movies. the boss is always in the back. drivers/body guard are up front.

for situations where the man driver picks up a passenger. if passenger is a man, the wife/gf of the driver will go to the back seat. if passenger is female, then wife stays up front, and female passenger goes to the back.

if im alone with my dad while he drives, i MUST sit up front with him. or it is considered disrespectful. (hes not my cheauffeur, and i am not the boss.) if me and my bro both ride in my dads car, ONE OF US (doesnt matter which), must also sit in the front.

This. But I think this concept is is not a traditional Chinese concept.

I grow up in a traditional Chinese family and sitting in the back if ur the only passenger is consider rude. It's like treating the driver as a taxi driver. There are of course exception like when aunties dint like the sun or there is a baby in the back that need taking care of.
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Girl sits up front. Doesn't matter if she's my g/f, friend, or a friend of someone who's also in the car. It's just one of those things.

It annoys me if the only other person in the car sits in the back seats. Makes me feel like a damn chauffeur. Sit up front and keep me company; otherwise I'm cranking up the stereo and you wont be able to hear anything because of the sub sitting half a foot behind you.

Drive a 2 seater - problem solved :troll:
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how about a 3-seater? :troll:

this.

I guess it comes down to how different groups of people acted around each other. My close group of friends from back in elementary days or people I have known for 20+ years generally would have gf sit in the back if it was a close friend. I am white however majority of my friends are not. Maybe has something to do with it....