There is a small detail on the car's dashboard that many drivers see practically every day without paying any attention to it. It is a small arrow, usually placed next to the fuel pump symbol, which appears alongside the fuel gauge.
The function of this arrow is simple: it allows the driver to know which side of the car the fuel cap is on before even getting out of the car. When the arrow points to the left, it indicates that the fuel cap is on that side. If it points to the right, it will be on the opposite side.
This indicator becomes particularly useful when driving a rental car, a borrowed one, or one with which there is not yet any familiarity. There is no universal rule that allows determining the position of the cap just by the make or country of origin of the car, so the arrow can avoid the common situation of parking next to the pump and then realizing, after getting out of the car, that the cap is on the other side.
According to a recent publication by the French website Le Tribunal du Net, this remains an unknown detail for many drivers, who spend years looking at the fuel indicator without noticing the small arrow that accompanies it.
