Get with the times: You're driving all wrong

I hope this is the correct forum to post this in. If not- mods please help. I am sure many of you already know about this. However I think that if this saves one person from a serious injury it is worth it.

"For decades, the standard instruction was that drivers should hold the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions, as envisioned on a clock. This, it turns out, is no longer the case. In fact, driving that way could cost you your arms or hands in particularly gruesome ways if your airbag deploys. Among the injuries the NHTSA reports from improper placement of the hands when an airbag deploys are amputations of fingers or entire hands, traumatic fractures and a particularly stomach-churning injury called "degloving," which — trust us — you definitely don't want to look up."

Link to article Bottom Line - Get with the times: You're driving all wrong

without even reading it, i am thinking of disconnecting the airbags.

9 and 3 is the new 10 and 2

At first, I thought 'Uh oh - that's going to be a hard habit to break.' Then, I realised I already had. The spokes of the Prius steering wheel (at least in the Gen II) are perfectly placed so that my hands fit naturally at 9 and 3, with my thumbs resting on top of the upper spokes. I generally find 'bottom' hand positions comfortable, but I prefer to set the wheel fairly low on the Prius, which means there's not enough room for my hands and my legs.

For years and years, ever since the introduction of air bags, the recommendation has changed from 10 and 2 to 8 and 4. This is very old news. Never hurts to repeat, though.

And while improper placement of the hands can result in horrible injuries, the absence of an air bag in those same accidents would probably result in death.

So put your hands in the correct position, but don't disconnect your air bags. Air bags save lives.

The far bigger problem seen on the roads is the ghetto lean and the one-armed grab - absurdly unsafe.



I've seen this all them time - looks like someone is relaxed in a lawn chair. If they suddenly have to take evasive action, they will oversteer and may flip over - easy from a postion of bad posture and just one hand. And the pose is just so over the top

I even see less than a one-armed grab - the one wrist lean - dude don't tell me that's all it takes to control a 5,000-pound vehicle?

Who would have thunk knee driving was the safest driving!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Pi8x-m5G0"]Knee Driving - No Hands! - YouTube[/ame]

Yeah, right, there'd be many, many more people with no hands or arms if that were true. I've had airbags deploy on me twice. Still have my 10 fingers.

Want to end up like this friend?

I'm so old I actually remember when some folks insisted on not wearing a seat belt since they might get trapped in the car by wearing it. Now the airbags get to be the safety device that makes driving scary.

I remember helping my Dad add seatbelts to our car, because it came without them.

I am glad that you still have all of your fingers. Airbags have saved many lives. As I said the purpose of this thread is to share this information with anyone who is not aware of it. If it prevents one serious injury then it has served its purpose. If you believe that the AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are disseminating false information then perhaps you should inform them of your position. I am sure that your experience with two airbag deployments was significant to you. I hope that no one had any significant injuries or financial loss. However I am not sure how statistically significant two incidents are.

of course, there are no statistics provided in the article. and it recommends 9 and 3, NOT 8 and 4.

I have no problem with education, just the FUD in the article that makes airbags seem more scary than they actually are. Already, one member commented on disconnecting the airbags and another remarked they've replaced seatbelts as the new scary safety device, thanks to the irresponsible FUD without regards to statistics.

That girl should have her driver's license taken away! She says the conditions were safe. What if a kid suddenly ran out in front of her car?

I knew a guy in Fargo, not at all long ago, who refuses to wear a seat belt because he's afraid of getting cut in half by the belt in an accident. He refused to ride with me because I do not even start the car until everyone is buckled in. I would not ride with him because he drives like a maniac.

Never hurts to repeat the hand-position advice.

I am sure: They have zero significance! There will always be outliers, and these are extreme outliers. You are FAR more likely to be saved than hurt by an air bag.

I recommend 8 and 4. But I suppose 9 and 3 is better than 10 and 2.

What's with all this antique hand position by the clock conniption? It's way past time to put these in cars, especially when installed with the optional laser cannon (the big red button in the middle).

The degree of control you have over a vehicle is proportional to the amount you move your hand(s) to get a given amount of change in the motion of the vehicle. The stick in an old-style airplane was long, giving you a larger range of motion, and therefore a good ratio of stick movement to change in the control surfaces of the airplane. The wheel of a car can be set to whatever ratio the manufacturer wants, again giving you a good ratio of movement of the wheel to turn angle of the front wheels.

A small joystick like the one pictured, if the car is to have an acceptable turning angle, will be extremely sensitive, causing a large turn angle for a small joystick movement. This will give great maneuverability but will make the car do extreme turns at the slightest movement of the hand.

Not a good thing.

Also, the stick of a plane combines ailerons and horizontal stabilizer onto a single control which, of course, is a good thing because of the way those two controls have to be managed in conjunction with one another. But in a car I think it's better for the wheels to be steered by their own dedicated device (the wheel) since you don't have a horizontal stabilizer requiring adjustment to make a coordinated turn.

In addition, on a long drive, it's nice to be able to rest one hand for a while, and then the other, which you can do with a steering wheel, but not with a joystick, unless you have two of them, one on each side, and most people are not coordinated enough to manage that.

A stick would of course not have any direct connection to the wheels but would send a signal to servos, and in a car, servo movement would not be linearly proportional to stick movement. From neutral to about half stick would move the wheels very little; more stick would proportionally turn the wheels further.

While it would take add'l getting used to, also having front to back stick movement control acceleration/deceleration would put virtually 100% of the car's control into one hand, which, I thnk, would actually be safer and easier to master than learning to coordinate both hands and feet to control a car today.

There's another advantage to single hand control of the vehicle: finally, you'll be able to tap your feet to the music!! That alone should put development of the stick onto the fast track.

I've seen joystick-like controls to enable physically-challenged individuals to drive.

None with a big red firing button, though.

The Texas Ghetto lean is a lot different than here in Illinois. Here it looks like there snt a driver because they are practly in the back seat.....lol.