Where to sit in the back of a car

When three people are riding in a passenger car together, one person is forced to sit in back. Here, they struggle to hear what the two others are saying up front, or just sit quietly for the duration of the ride.

Often, people like to sit behind the passenger seat because it allows them to have more legroom. The driver often sits farther back to be in a comfortable position to use the pedals, while the rider in the passenger seat is able to move their seat forward to provide legroom for a backseat rider.

If one desires to be heavily involved in the front seat conversation, sitting behind the passenger is a bad idea. To have the best chance to be involved, one should sit behind the driver. Although less legroom, this seat provides the best opportunity to not be excluded from conversation. The reasoning is as follows:

*The driver must focus on the road. Thus, when conversing with other passengers, he or she must keep their head pointed forward and thus has a limited ability to engage in conversation. As well, they are focused on driving and may not always be available to chat with.

*The rider in the passenger seat does not have to focus on the road. When conversing with other passengers, this rider can turn their head to look at who they are talking to. When the driver is focused on driving, they can engage in conversation with all others in the car.

Under these assumptions, one should want to locate themselves so that they can easily talk to the rider in the passenger seat so they can have eye contact when necessary. If one sits behind the passenger seat, the rider up there will unlikely turn around to talk to the backseat. If, however, one sits behind the driver, the rider in the passenger seat can turn around to talk with you, and thus including you more in the conversation.

Summary: Sitting behind the driver keeps you engaged in the conversation because the passenger seat rider can turn their head to talk to you. Sitting behind the passenger seat means you get no eye contact and are more frequently forgotten by those in the front seat.