If you buy a new bicycle with hand-operated brakes in the United States, it will most likely be set up so that the left lever operates the front brake, and the rear is activated by the right lever. That setup is that is mandated by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. My own bikes are set up that way because, even though I am a "minority" in some senses, in another, very important area, I'm very much in the majority: I'm right-handed. (Please don't infer anything about my politics, or any other preference of mine, from that!)
So, I suppose, was whoever made that CPSC regulation. It makes perfect sense if you're right-handed, because the rear brake is inherently less powerful, in part because of its longer cable, than the front. Therefore, it takes more hand force to achieve a given level of braking force, or even to modulate, the brake.
I might also assume that Carol Penkert is right-handed. She is suing Costco Wholesaler and San Diego e-bike company Phantom because, she says, her machine was set up in violation of CPSC mandates. But she isn't merely playing a "gotcha!" game. Rather, she claims, the setup caused her to flip over the handlebars when she hit the brakes. As a result, she lost her right eye and suffered a number of facial fractures.
She wasn't aware of the setup until the mechanic servicing the damaged bike spotted it. The suit alleges that Phantom knowingly shipped, and Costco knowingly sold, her the bike, which she bought fully assembled, without any warning that it had an irregular setup.
