Do you really know how to hold a steering wheel correctly?
If, like me, you have always thought that the correct way to hold a steering wheel was the good ol’ 9 and 3 position, you may be interested to hear about the new position.
If you think the 10 and 2 position is the way to do it then we really need to have a sit down! I know it’s what the K53 teaches you, but do not let me even get started on the K53 test!
Even if you type “how to hold a steering wheel correctly” in to Google’s search tab, the first thing that comes up says to hold it in the 10 and 2 position and to feed the steering wheel when turning. According to practicalmotoring.com, “Holding the wheel at the 10 and 2 position used to be routinely recommended, but that was before the advent of airbags. Holding the wheel in this position could be deadly in the event of a crash, and hugely increases the possibility of injury caused by the deployment of the airbag.”
I have done a number of advanced driving courses and high performance courses as well as test many a car on a track. Every single driving instructor I have ever come across has told me that I need to position my hands at 9 and 3, with bent elbows. It gives you the most efficient rotation side to side. And that makes sense right?
Well I just came across an article which states that neither the 10 and 2 nor the 9 and 3 are the best positions. Another theory is that 8 and 4 is where you should place your hands. (I hope you guys don’t have digital watches)!
Robert Sinclair Jr., AAA New York Manager of Media Relations, said that the new thinking on hand positioning was 8 and 4. “This accomplishes a couple of things,” he noted. “First, it allows the driver to rest their hands on the lap, like a fighter pilot, which reduces the strain on the arms and places them clear of the steering wheel airbag should it deploy. The positioning also facilitates the push-pull-slide method of negotiating turns where one hand pushes the wheel, the other pulls and the wheel slides back to centre through the hands to resume straight-line driving.”
Even AAA in America which is the equivalent to our AA in South Africa has urged people to adopt the 8 and 4 position or at least lower down than 10 and 2 because of the airbags.
But Arrive Alive has something very different to say:
The positioning of the hands on the steering wheel is of the utmost importance for safe driving – and especially so when the driver has to respond in an emergency situation.
To effectively control your vehicle you must place both hands firmly on the steering wheel either in the 10 and 2 o’clock position or at 9 and 3 o’clock. And of course any position between those two would be a safe place to keep your hands.
We would like to share some very important insights from our Road Safety friends at Drive and Stay Alive. Drive and Stay Alive has urged drivers to ignore the latest fad for holding the steering wheel at the eight o’clock and four o’clock positions.
Some so-called experts are recommending 8 and 4 on the basis that it reduces the chance of injury if a collision occurs and the driver’s airbag fires but this is highly inadvisable as it creates much more danger than it might eliminate.
It is perfectly true that the number of arm injuries has increased since the advent of airbags, but there are two very important points to be made:
Holding the wheel at “8 and 4” not only encourages lazy driving, with the arms resting on the driver’s thighs or lap, but it also significantly reduces a driver’s ability to steer accurately and swiftly in the event of an emergency. Why else would the “10 and 2” or “9 and 3” positions have been recommended for so many decades in the first place?
Surely it is vastly preferable that a driver is able to respond accurately and promptly and thereby avoid a crash than it is to compromise this ability in the interests of possibly reducing arm injuries after a crash?
The aforementioned increase in arm injuries (and related facial injuries, when the arms are smashed into a driver’s face by an expanding airbag) is undoubtedly exacerbated by widespread use, in the USA, of “hand over” steering techniques (known elsewhere as crossing the arms). If the “push pull” (a.k.a. “shuffle”) steering method is used instead of “hand over,” then the chances of a driver getting one or even both arms smashed into his/her face by an airbag are reduced dramatically.
But the main thing is that avoiding a crash by holding and using the steering wheel properly is vastly preferable to having a crash while hopefully minimizing any arm injuries — what about injuries to the rest of your body, to your passengers, and to other people on the road if you have a crash that could have been avoided? (That unhindered airbag isn’t going to save everybody!
PracticalMotoring lists some bad habits to avoid:
1. The steering wheel is not an armrest. Don’t drape your hand or forearm over the top of the wheel. Apart from reducing your control, it contorts your body into an unnatural position, further reducing your ability to react.
2. Don’t hold the wheel in any position other than 9 and 3. Holding the wheel with one of both hands in the upper quadrant severely reduces your ability to control your vehicle.
3. Don’t grab the wheel from behind (with the back of your hand facing forward and your fingers pointing back at you). Some drivers use this grip when making a turn. If the airbag were to deploy (which they do at 300km/h), the consequences could be very serious and in a collision your arm could be stuck and badly injured.
4. Don’t use the heel of your palm to turn the wheel. Such a technique offers minimal steering wheel control, and if the front wheels were to hit an obstacle, you have no ability to stop the steering wheel spinning out of your control. The same applies to driving with one hand, your fingertips or, even worse, with your knees.
5. If you are driving a manual vehicle, don’t rest your left hand on the gearlever. Once you have made the change, return your left hand to the steering wheel as quickly as possible.
6. Don’t let your passengers rest their feet on the dashboard. Apart from having to clean the dashboard later, if the airbag deploys, they could suffer serious injuries.
As you can tell, there are many different theories doing the rounds. But our advice, keep both your hands at 9 and 3 and do not steer with one hand or something as stupid as merely resting your thumb on the wheel…you do not look cool, I can assure you!
Sources: PracticalMotoring, Vroomgirls.com, ArriveAlive