My 11 year old daughter asked me a question the other day that I did not know the answer to. Who can help me out with this one. She wanted to know why the steering wheel in my pickup is on the left side and why the steering wheel in my boat is on the right side?? I never really gave that much thought. So why is that??

My 11 year old daughter asked me a question the other day that I did not know the answer to. Who can help me out with this one. She wanted to know why the steering wheel in my pickup is on the left side and why the steering wheel in my boat is on the right side?? I never really gave that much thought. So why is that??


I have been told it is done because of the torque on the boat produced by the prop which spins clockwise. That torque would tend to lift the starboard side of the boat. The driver's weight was put on the starboard side to offset that lift.

You know i wonder the same thing.

The origin of term comes from old boating practices. Before boats had rudders on their centerline, boats were steered by use of a specialized oar. This oar was held by a sailor located towards the stern (back) of the boat. However, like most of the rest of society, there were many more right-handed sailors than left-handed sailors. This meant that the right-handed sailors holding the steering oar (which had been broadened to provide better control) used to stand on the right side of the boat. The word starboard is a corruption of steering board, which in turn came from the old Norse language word st?n the language of the vikings.

Similarly, the term for the left side of the boat, port, is derived from the practice of sailors mooring on the left side (i.e., the Portboard side) as to prevent the steering boards from being crushed. Because the words portboard and starboard sounded too similar to be distingued under windy sailing conditions, portboard was shortened to port.

The starboad side of most naval vessels the world over is designated the 'senior' side. The officers' gangway or sea ladder is shipped on this side and this side of the quarterdeck is reserved for the captain. The flag or pennant of the ship's captain or senior officer in command is generally hoist on the starboard yard.