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Why the lever for PRND?

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The order and position of gears is included in the standard in my link above. I guess they could put the lever on the left to put drive above reverse :)

S3.1.1.1 Transmission shift levers. If a steering-column-mounted transmission shift lever is used, movement from neutral position to forward drive position shall be clockwise. If the transmission shift lever sequence includes a park position, it shall be located at the end, adjacent to the reverse drive position.
Well, there you go. I actually used be responsible for implementing such rules, but only for the electrical system, which at the time didn't include the powertrain, so I missed this one. I see it requires that N be between R and D, but doesn't have a rule for the sequence for a floor- or center console-mounted control like the Leaf, so they could have D-N-R instead of R-N-D.