Great Human Factors: When a Hand Control is Called a "Suicide Shifter"

I am a sucker for a 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle.  So I  thought … what a great opportunity to talk about Human Factors Design and show off a little nostalgia. The topic of today is the Suicide Shifter.

The Suicide Shifter is located on the left side of the fuel tank and was used to shift gears while riding. Called a Suicide Shifter because you had to take your left hand off the handle bar grip to shift it.

So the question for you today is how many equipment control designs used today at your work area are not placed in the safest area to use while operating?