Almost every pump I've ever used in the UK can reach to the far side of my car, so I don't even think about which side to go anymore.
Lots of people do though, and many petrol stations have big signs to try to educate people that the hose will reach if your filler cap is on the other side of the car.
Of course, if you're driving a big van that's not going to work out (and lorries have their own pumps and their own problems), but most cars is fine.
I see people doing this in UK and I don't understand - aren't you worried about scratching the paint? I'd rather reverse in front of the pump so I'm on the correct side than run the hose over my car if it had to rest on the bodywork.
I do it all the time and it's never scratched the paint of my (admittedly small) car. It makes it much more efficient to just drive up to any spare pump without worrying about the side.
Every petrol station I use has hoses that pull out enough to reach the other side. I didn't realise there were places that weren't like this. People still queue up for 'their' side resulting in the occasional free cut to the front for me.
A friend noticed that people would pull up to the wrong side of the Costco pump, even if there was an open position on the more natural side. He was never able to figure out why someone would do that.
Maybe because they can't remember which side their wife's car fuel filler is on and know it doesn't matter at Costco (and they don't know about the arrow on the fuel gauge trick)
