I had an experience travelling across Kyrgyzstan recently in the middle front seat. The gearstick was just to the side of my leg, but changing gears invariably meant hitting my leg with it. It was a long 10 hours.

Hah, I was thinking of the fond memories I have of sitting in the middle seat and my dad letting me operate the shifter for him.

You're 100% right, they are used in semi trucks where it's not usually an issue.

It's also a horrible shifter experience even for regular commuter cars where performance isn't a priority. Considering how it's one of the three constantly used controls in a car it would likely hurt sales in a sedan.