As a Chindian, I don't know why it's different. Just that it is bloody inconvenient as the British would say or damn pain as the Americans would. I was reminded of a joke where an American and an Englishman got into an argument over the word "Windshield" - American and "Windscreen" - British.
The American got all pompous and said "It is called Windshield because we invented the car!"
The Englishman just looked calmly at him and said "Well, old bugger, we invented the language".
I started to realise that there are TONS of words that are used and spelled differently. So to see what other car words are different, I looked up the Internet and found this. Enjoy!
Part 1
UK-US - Cars and Driving:
UK US
aerial antenna
("aerial" used regionally in the past but has
faded from use)
bonnet hood
boot trunk
car park parking lot
car silencer muffler
cats eyes reflectors (embedded in road)
central reservation median
clock odometer
demister defroster
defogger
diversion detour
drink-driving drunk driving
driving licence driver's license
dual carriageway divided highway
dumper truck dump truck
flat battery dead battery
flyover overpass
fourway crossroads
full lights high beams
gear box transmission
gear lever gear shift
hire car rental car
indicators turn signals
lights dipped low beams
motorway freeway (Western U.S.)
expressway (Eastern U.S.)
Interstate See Notes
orbital beltway (Eastern U.S.)
petrol gasoline
gas
propeller shaft drive shaft
recovery towing
roundabout circle
rotary (New England)
straight straightaway (as at a race track)
top up fill up
top off See Notes
transmission power train
turning left left turn
turning right right turn
tyre tire
unmade road dirt road, unpaved road
windscreen windshield
window heater defroster
defogger
wing fender
zebra crossing crosswalk
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