Offside/Nearside

sogood · 14-03-2012 8:05pm #1

Why would the sides of a vehicle be referred to as offside and nearside, as opposed to " Drivers side/ passenger side" This would work regardless of whether you drive a right or left hand drive car. I have heard so many conflicting opinions as to which is offside/nearside and even had a tyre replaced on the instructions of the nct tester, amidst this confusion. He said all was well but the car needed a front nearside tyre, went to tyre fitter and he says, front nearside if perfectly fine, though the offside was a little more worn, (But not a failure in his opinion) Replaced the offside, based on his opinion, went back for a visual, and passed!

What is the definitive description? Which is which and maybe we here on boards should adopt a "drivers side/passenger side" rule. Thoughts?

Owen · 14-03-2012 8:06pm

Nearside is the side near the kerb. Offside is the side away from the kerb. In Ireland, the driver's side is Offside.

CiniO · 14-03-2012 8:21pm

I was also thinking about this nonsense.

Why not just use left side/ right side.

CiniO · 14-03-2012 8:24pm

Owen wrote: »

Nearside is the side near the kerb. Offside is the side away from the kerb. In Ireland, the driver's side is Offside.

All provided you have RHD car.
But when you have LHD car in Ireland, is your left wheel an near-side beacuse you are still in Ireland, or is it off-side as your car is LHD and left side is the driver's side.

Or if you drove your RHD car to France, would right side still be off-side as this was the drivers-side, or maybe right side becomes near-side then, as it's the one nearest the kerb.

???

Owen · 14-03-2012 8:24pm

Because left/right can mean different things sitting inside the car, and standing in front of it looking at it.

Owen · 14-03-2012 8:26pm

CiniO wrote: »

All provided you have RHD car.
But when you have LHD car in Ireland, is your left wheel an near-side beacuse you are still in Ireland ...

Boze

It stays the same as the country it was bought in. You can substitute drivers side/passenger side instead of offside/nearside if it makes it easier, but left and right can be easily confused by people.

CiniO · 14-03-2012 8:26pm

Owen wrote: »

Because left/right can mean different things sitting inside the car, and standing in front of it looking at it.

Same as near-side and off-side when you are talking about LHD vehicles or RHD traffic.

Generally AFAIK it was always assumed that you speak about car like looking at it from behind. Like in RHD car right door would be the driver's door, while left door would be passnegers door.

14-03-2012 8:27pm

I prefer port and starboard myself.

Owen · 14-03-2012 8:28pm

CiniO wrote: »

Generally AFAIK it was always assumed that you speak about car like looking at it from behind. Like in RHD car right door would be the driver's door, while left door would be passnegers door.

You would think that would happen, but from working in a Garage for 7 years, people would come in, ask for a right hand mirror glass (Because they were looking at the car from the front) and you'd ask them to confirm if it was driver or passenger, and they'd then realise it's passenger side instead.

You're all making a mountain out of a molehill here IMHO.

CiniO · 14-03-2012 8:28pm

Owen wrote: »

Boze

It stays the same as the country it was bought in. You can substitute drivers side/passenger side instead of offside/nearside if it makes it easier, but left and right can be easily confused by people.

So you are saying near-side is always the passenger side, while off-side is driver's side. Right?

And that it stays the same as in the country car was bought.
So if you convert RHD into LHD, (swap the steering wheel to the left) then off-side becomes near-side

Owen · 14-03-2012 8:30pm

CiniO wrote: »

And that it stays the same as in the country car was bought. So if you convert RHD into LHD, (swap the steering wheel to the left) then off-side becomes near-side

Are you trying to make my head explode? It's working

What if it's something like this :

colm_mcm · 14-03-2012 8:30pm

It goes way back to horses and sword fights, it's a quaint term, mainly used in the uk.

CiniO · 14-03-2012 8:31pm

Owen wrote: »

You would think that would happen, but from working in a Garage for 7 years, people would come in, ask for a right hand mirror glass (Because they were looking at the car from the front) and you'd ask them to confirm if it was driver or passenger, and they'd then realise it's passenger side instead.

You're all making a mountain out of a molehill here IMHO.

Imagine it's the same like with human.
If you go to the doctor and tell him there is something wrong with your right eye, he should not be confused which one is it, even though he is looking at you from the front and for him your right eye is a left one.
But I think it's obvious for everyone which eye is right, so the same should apply to cars.
Right wheel is the right wheel, and I can't see how could anyone confuse it.

Owen · 14-03-2012 8:32pm

That's cause you're a car enthusiast CiniO, my Mother would always get them confused, as would 80% of Motorists on the road.

CiniO · 14-03-2012 8:32pm

Owen wrote: »

Are you trying to make my head explode? It's working What if it's something like this :

Hahahah
I can't see any way to describe which side is which here.

sogood · 14-03-2012 8:52pm

See? Different people have different interpretations and variations on what is "right hand/left hand side" depending upon whether you are inside the car looking out to the front, or vice versa. Therefore that is why I think a uniform approach, as in "Drivers side/ passenger side" works. No confusion, no ambiguity, regardless of which side of the road you drive on etc.

Owen · 14-03-2012 9:02pm

There'll still be ambiguity in a LHD/RHD car with driver side/passenger side same as there will be with nearside/offside. For the most part, nearside/offside and drivers/passengers will only be an issue with a RHD car in a LHD country and vice versa. 99% of the time they'll be easily understood.

coylemj · 14-03-2012 9:10pm

'Nearside' and 'Offside' are English words, they wouldn't know what you were talking about if you used those terms in France or Germany so I can't see any scope for confusion.

The terms originate as said earlier with horses, you mount a horse on it's left side, hence that's the nearside.

Jimdagym · 14-03-2012 9:16pm

I'm 31 and I still say left instead of right by mistake sometimes.

vetstu · 15-03-2012 8:10am

There is a sign on the on ramp of the M1 at sprucefield
No Stopping
No U-Turns
In Emergency
Use Nearside Verge.

Probably confuses a good few people judging by some of the responses on here.

milltown · 15-03-2012 8:38am

I think Offside was originally used to confuse wimmins in the hope of discouraging them from trying to pilot an automobile.

Syllabus · 15-03-2012 9:43am

CiniO wrote: »

So you are saying near-side is always the passenger side, while off-side is driver's side. Right?

And that it stays the same as in the country car was bought.
So if you convert RHD into LHD, (swap the steering wheel to the left) then off-side becomes near-side

nearside is the side of the car closest to the kerb when driving on the correct side of the road for the country you're in regardless of whether your car is rhd or lhd

so, if you are driving down O'Connel St(dublin) coming from the bridge then Arnotts is on your nearside and the Gresham is on your offside

simples

deadwood · 15-03-2012 9:47am

coylemj wrote: »

'Nearside' and 'Offside' are English words, they wouldn't know what you were talking about if you used those terms in France or Germany..

Er...unless you used the French or German words for nearside and offside, non?

CiniO · 15-03-2012 9:54am

deadwood wrote: »

Er...unless you used the French or German words for nearside and offside, non?

Are there any?

CiniO · 15-03-2012 9:58am

Syllabus wrote: »

nearside is the side of the car closest to the kerb when driving on the correct side of the road for the country you're in regardless of whether your car is rhd or lhd

so, if you are driving down O'Connel St(dublin) coming from the bridge then Arnotts is on your nearside and the Gresham is on your offside

simples

So generally when you go to the garage and tell them you need nearside front tyre replaced, then you mean front left tyre in Ireland, while if in US you want front right tyre.
Funny.

corktina · 15-03-2012 10:14am

no in the US they would have a different convention no doubt and in any case would want a tyer or a tire probably.:rolleyes:

it's a convention, it's like having the hot tap on the left...

coco_lola · 15-03-2012 10:29am

That's hilarious, I teach horse riding and we use nearside for the side of the horse closest to the wall of the arena, and offside for the side furthest away from the wall.

I assume it's taken from the days that we used horses for transportation.

EDIT: That was mentioned already

ejabrod · 23-12-2014 1:30pm

the "nearside" is closest to the kerb (in the designated direction of traffic) and the "offside" is closest to the centre of the road

ejabrod · 23-12-2014 1:30pm

Ahhh, thread revival ...... feels good

Spook_ie · 23-12-2014 1:46pm

CiniO wrote: »

Hahahah
I can't see any way to describe which side is which here.

Pretty easy...

the o/s rear is actually a n/s front, the n/s front is a n/s front

the n/s rear is an o/s front and the n/s front is a n/s front.

ejabrod · 23-12-2014 1:54pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

Pretty easy...

the o/s rear is actually a n/s front, the n/s front is a n/s front

the n/s rear is an o/s front and the n/s front is a n/s front.

WTF???!!!!

How could the OFF SIDE REAR be a NEAR SIDE FRONT???

What you are saying is that the OFF SIDE REAR (in Ireland the rear passenger on the drivers side) is the same as the NEAR SIDE FRONT (in Ireland the front passenger)???

Alun · 23-12-2014 2:24pm

CiniO wrote: »

Are there any?

In Germany you refer to Fahrerseite (Driver's side) or Beifahrerseite (Passenger's side) as far as I can remember. Don't know about the French.

BMJD · 23-12-2014 2:35pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

Pretty easy...

the o/s rear is actually a n/s front, the n/s front is a n/s front

the n/s rear is an o/s front and the n/s front is a n/s front.

CJhaughey · 23-12-2014 2:42pm

I bought a RHS sill recently from Germany, its called a Right Hand Sill.
No matter if it is LHD or RHD sitting in the car facing forward is how the convention is for describing parts or areas of the car.
Nearside/Offside is a peculiar term only used in Britain and Ireland, even in other countries that drive on the same side of the road its not in current usage.

ejabrod · 23-12-2014 2:53pm

CJhaughey wrote: »

I bought a RHS sill recently from Germany, its called a Right Hand SILL.
.....
Nearside/Offside is a PECULIAR term only used in Britain and Ireland, even in other countries that drive on the same side of the road its not in current usage.

Well, the fact that we are in Ireland and this is the term used for descriptive purposes...

To me Right Hand SILL is a peculiar term

Tail Docker · 23-12-2014 5:27pm

So, to sum up, nearside is the side furthest away, while offside is the side beside you? Unless you're in a lhd, in which case it's the side furthest off from you, with you sitting on the inside of the nearside?

endacl · 23-12-2014 5:30pm

CiniO wrote: »

Hahahah
I can't see any way to describe which side is which here.

Inside and outside. Leave it at that.

ejabrod · 23-12-2014 5:33pm

CJhaughey wrote: »

...
No matter if it is LHD or RHD sitting in the car facing forward is how the convention is for describing parts or areas of the car......

edit: reread the post

ejabrod · 23-12-2014 5:34pm

The near side refers to the side near the kerb, the offside refers to the side near the center line of the road

The term is mainly used in Ireland and the UK.

As sated by CJHaughey in post #34, in Germany they use the term 'sill'

seamus · 23-12-2014 5:39pm

I guess the purpose of using nearside/offside rather than left/right or driver/passenger is that it's universal terminology regardless of what type of vehicle you're driving (motorbikes don't have a driver/passenger side), where the driver is sitting in the vehicle, or even what country you're driving in.

Thus an advanced driving manual for the UK could just as easily be applied in France if you use nearside/offside rather than left/right.

mickdw · 23-12-2014 6:43pm

ejabrod wrote: »

WTF???!!!!

How could the OFF SIDE REAR be a NEAR SIDE FRONT???

What you are saying is that the OFF SIDE REAR (in Ireland the rear passenger on the drivers side) is the same as the NEAR SIDE FRONT (in Ireland the front passenger)???

If talking about the mini pictured earlier, the left rear is infact the right front and the right rear is the left front.

colm_mcm · 23-12-2014 11:08pm

nobody cares, zombie thread locked

Offside/Nearside

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