in the driver's seat

Meaning: (idiomatic)Having the most important role in a storyline or recognition. Of primary importance.; (idiomatic)In control of an entity or situation.2025June 24, Tim Wu, “A.I. Doesn’t Have to Mean a ‘White-Collar Blood Bath’ of Job Loss”, inThe New York Times‎[1],→ISSN, archived fromthe originalon24 June 2025:That can increase efficiency (when the suggestion is indeed what you had in mind) and spark new ideas (when the suggestion isn’t quite what you had in mind), while keeping the human userin the driver’s seat.

Examples:

EN: Mike Rossini is in the driver's seat and you guys just giddyup when I crack the whip.
ES: Mike Rossini es quien conduce y vosotros solo decís "arre" cuando chasquee el látigo.
EN: I've got a gun and you ain't, so I'm sitting in the driver's seat.
ES: Tengo un arma y tu no, por eso me pondré en el asiento del conductor.
EN: So I think I'll keep on sitting in the driver's seat till I hear from them personally.
ES: Entonces creo que seguiré en el asiento del conductor hasta que yo sepa de ellos personalmente.
EN: Well, it looks as if you're in the driver's seat, Mr. Nolan.
ES: Parece como si estuviera en el asiento del conductor, Sr. Nolan.
EN: You were in the driver's seat.
ES: Fuiste el artífice.
EN: Keep your big nut down and give them two in the driver's seat.
ES: Baja ese cabezón y dispara al asiento del conductor.
EN: There's only room for one in the driver's seat, and that's you!
ES: Solo cabe uno en el asiento del conductor y ese eres tú. ¿Qué más da?
EN: But I'm in the driver's seat this time.
ES: Pero estoy en el asiento del chofer esta vez.
EN: But tonight, for a change, you'll handle the reins... and sit in the driver's seat too.
ES: Pero esta noche para variar, las riendas has de guiar... y te sentarás al frente.
EN: Directors are like anybody in the driver's seat.
ES: Los directores son como cualquiera al volante.
EN: He's the one in the driver's seat!
ES: ¡Es el que está en el asiento del conductor!
EN: Get in the driver's seat.
ES: Ve al asiento del conductor.
EN: Great, now we carry a passenger in the driver's seat.
ES: - Estupendo. Así que llevaremos a un pasajero en la cabina.
EN: You figure now that you are in the driver's seat with a little secretary to play footsie with on a 24 hour shift?
ES: Imagino que ahora te sientes bien en el asiento del conductor. Con una secretaría de pacotilla en turnos de 24 horas.
EN: McKeever was boss for so long, we're shaking in our boots... but now we're in the driver's seat.
ES: McKeever fue el jefe durante tanto tiempo que todavía nos tiene a sus pies... pero ahora la manejamos nosotros.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).