Proper car arrangements

Today I found out what is considered the proper seating arrangement in a car of 4+1 seats when the passengers are two women and two men. It is not, as one might naively think, putting three people in the back seats and one in the front. No, no, that would make people uncomfortable! In such a situation, both women ride in front - yes on one seat, even when the road is a bumpy affair, barely distinguishable from the rocky landscape...