| How is Your Hand Placement? |
4/20/07 |
As a follow-up to last week’s blog on Behind-The-Wheel training, I am curious to hear your thoughts on a new technique that is being recommended by a number of safety training institutes for proper hand placement on the wheel while driving.
Let me tell you right off the bat, I don’t agree with it at all! The new recommendation is to place your hands on the wheel at the 8 & 4 position, when looking at a clock face. When I first heard this, I scratched my head and wondered why the heck anyone would recommend placing your hands so low on the steering wheel that your elbows would be almost sitting on you lap, dramatically impacting your range of motion with the steering wheel.
I just can’t imagine anyone being able to make a proper steering maneuver in an emergency situation with an 8 & 4 hand placement. So I decided to do some research to try and figure out why the “experts” were now making this recommendation.
Here is what I learned. The recommendation is based on the fact that there has been an increase in hand and arm injuries due to airbag deployment during a crash. Hmmm, so let’s see. The goal is to avoid the crash in the first place, so the airbag will not go off. So, won’t the chances of a crash go up now if you don’t have the ability to maneuver? I think so. But don’t worry, your hands and arms will be just fine and the “experts” will tout a decrease in hand and arm injuries due to this technique. And we probably will not hear much about the actual accident rate, or other injury rate.
News flash to the experts - I don’t want to see the accident happen in the first place! So let’s stop worrying about injuries due to the airbag, that even when severe, are not life threatening and let’s start teaching people how to handle oversteering and understeering with the proper hand placement of 9 & 3 on the steering wheel.
That’s right, 9 & 3 and not 10 & 2. 10 & 2 is another little incorrect tidbit the “experts” have been teaching us for years.
Here is why you want to practice 9 & 3:
A 9 & 3 hand position allows for the greatest range of motion.
9 & 3 allows you to accurately center your wheels in the event you oversteer or understeer.
9 & 3 places your hands to the side and in the event of airbag deployment, they will move outward and away, instead of bending back upward and directly towards your face.
And here are a few more tips to help you out.
Don’t use an inverted one-handed grip on the steering wheel. You know, just like the one you used to pull into the driveway last night, or that tight spot at the customer. That type of grip is a great way to break a wrist when the airbag deploys.
Don’t wrap your thumbs around the wheel. Place them on the top of the wheel. This will free up your hands and dramatically reduce the potential for injury to your hands in the event of airbag deployment.
Simple tips that make sense and work. So if you are at 8 & 4, it is time to move up to 9 & 3 and if you are at 10 & 2, it is time to move down to 9 & 3.
Your thoughts and experience? |
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