At first blush, the practice might strike some people as surprising, even outrageous and most

certainly illegal.

Well, it's not — at least for letter carriers.

Driving a car while sitting in the passenger's seat might be lawful for mail carriers, but

it's raising a few eyebrows at federal court in Buffalo.

Even the judge overseeing the case — a personal injury trial involving a motorcyclist

hit by a carrier on Tonawanda Creek Road in Amherst — seemed shocked that the federal

government allows such a practice.

"Is this an accepted way of driving a vehicle when you're delivering mail?" U.S. District

Judge Richard J. Arcara asked the carrier during her testimony two months ago.

"That's the way I was taught to do it," she answered.

"The postal authorities taught you how to do it this way?" the judge asked.

"Yes," she answered.

Arcara isn't the only one surprised that the U.S. Postal Service allows letter carriers to

drive from the other side of the front seat.

"Intuitively, it seems like it's not the best way to deliver mail," said Stephen R. Foley,

a lawyer for Karen M. Moe, the motorcyclist.

Court papers indicate the carrier who hit Moe "would sit in the passenger seat, use the

left foot to operate the gas and brake, use the left hand to steer and use the right hand to

deliver mail through the right window."

The object, of course, is to make it easier for carriers, most often those in rural areas,

to reach roadside mailboxes. But even though the practice dates back years, not all carriers

view it as safe.

"Our city carriers are trained to drive right-side vehicles," said Robert J. McLennan,

president of the Buffalo branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. "We feel

comfortable driving those vehicles, and obviously feel it's safer driving those vehicles."

Postal Service officials declined to comment on the court case but said driving from the

passenger side is a legal and long-standing practice.

"When delivering to mailboxes using a privately owned left-hand drive vehicle — if

rural carriers deem it safe — they may legally drive without using a seat belt and

without being positioned directly behind the steering wheel," Karen Mazurkiewicz, a

spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Mazurkiewicz pointed to the postal service's Rural Carrier Manual, which suggests carriers

consider several factors before deciding to drive from the other side of the front seat. Those

factors range from road design to weather conditions to traffic density.

Twice as safe "Safety is a top

priority of the Postal Service," she said. "Bureau of Labor statistics validate that the

Postal Service works twice as safe as other delivery organizations. No other business comes

close."

One of the exceptions, of course, was the August 2003 accident that resulted in serious

injuries to Moe's shoulder, clavicle and right foot.

Foley said his client is back to work — on the line at General Motors' Town of

Tonawanda engine plant — but after shoulder and foot surgery, she continues to suffer

pain from her injuries.

"It seems problematic for other motorists and themselves," Foley said of the carriers'

practice of driving from the passenger's side.

The court has ruled that the government is liable for Moe's injuries, and the only issue at

this point is how much it will have to pay.

The accident that occurred when the carrier, Robin A. Truby, who was driving her personal

car, realized she had "misdelivered mail."

To return to the mailbox, Truby attempted an illegal U-turn from the shoulder of Tonawanda

Creek Road. She later testified that she looked in her rear view mirror but never saw Moe, who

was traveling behind her.

Motorcyclist thrown When hit by the

car, Moe was thrown from her motorcycle, landing in a patch of grass on the side of the road.

Truby was ticketed for failing to yield the right of way and later pleaded guilty.

Moe is not the first person to be involved in an accident with a mail carrier driving from

the passenger side of the car.

Earlier this year, a carrier in New Hampshire drove her SUV into the front window of a gas

station while driving from the other side of the front seat. She blamed the accident on a

stuck gas pedal.

In 2008, a letter carrier in Texas was killed when her pickup hit a muddy area of the road.

She also was driving from the passenger seat.

In Moe's lawsuit against the government, the practice of carriers driving from the

passenger side of the front seat has come up several times.

"You would pull up to the mailbox, open the window, open the box, put the mail in the box

and go to the next stop?" Foley asked Truby during the liability portion of the trial.

"Yes," Truby answered.

"Tell me how you would accomplish that stop if the mailbox was on the passenger side of the

vehicle," Foley asked.

"Sitting on the passenger side using your left foot for the gas and the brake and steering

with your left hand," Truby said.

Foley then asked Truby about her training as a postal service employee.

"The mail would always be delivered out of the passenger side of the vehicle because

mailboxes don't go down the center of the road, right?" Foley asked her.

"Yes," Truby answered.

"This was the fashion you would go about delivering the mail as opposed to walking a route

in a city area?" he asked her.

"Yes," she answered.

Operating tips "Did anyone at the

post office ever give you any instructions about how to operate a motor vehicle in this

fashion?" Foley asked.

"Yes," she said. "A carrier showed me."

The government's liability was not linked to the carrier's decision to drive from the

passenger's side of her four-door, Buick sedan, but rather to her illegal U-turn.

Despite that, Foley contends her position in the car played a role in the accident.

He points to the driver's rear and side view mirrors and wonders whether she was able to

use them because of where she sat in the car.

"It's not a natural way to drive a motor vehicle," Foley said. "Motor vehicles are not

designed to be driven from the passenger's side of the car."

Moe's case against the government is expected to continue for several months.