Riding shotgun

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To ride shotgun is to sit in the front passenger seat when riding a car or other vehicle. In the United States, Canada, Australia and several countries in Europe such as Germany and the United Kingdom, this is a tradition among teenagers and young adults of trying to get to sit in the seat next to the driver. In contemporary tradition, in order to claim that seat, one must "call shotgun" according to some set of informal rules. To call shotgun is, at minimum, to yell out "shotgun" while approaching the vehicle.

Today, many automobile passengers consider the front passenger seat preferable to riding in rear seats due largely to greater control over leg room, an unobstructed view of the road in front, and better access to the vehicle's car audio and air conditioning system, not to mention easier entry and exit from the vehicle. In addition, some passengers find that riding in the front seat will reduce car sickness. There is also a tradition in family life that the adults sit in front, the kids in the back; hence sitting shotgun includes you with the adults. The first known reference to "riding shotgun" in print occurred on 27 March 1921, and the first use of the phrase in print to refer to automobiles occurred in 1954 when the TV series Gunsmoke became extremely popular, and used the terminology of riding shotgun nearly weekly.^[1]