The Dangers of Steering with Your Hands at 10 and 2

What’s the correct way to hold the steering wheel while driving today?

If you were to survey an average group of drivers of all ages, you would likely get a wide variety of answers. But there is only one correct way to hold your steering wheel and remain safe. First, a little history.

Holding the wheel at 10 and 2 used to be the rule If you learned how to drive in the years prior to the 1990s, a key part of the Driver’s Ed. curriculum was that you held the steering wheel at the 10 o’clock and the 2 o’clock positions, when seeing the steering wheel as the face of a clock. Hooking your thumbs over the steering wheel rim, for a more secure grip, was also a part of this technique. There were several good reasons for this:

• It provided good leverage, back in the days before power steering became universal and made steering effortless
• It let you make quick evasive maneuvers, in either direction, without moving your hands from the wheel
• It made the “hand over hand” technique for going around tight turns easier to perform

Along came airbags, which made 10 and 2 a bad thing Then came the 1990s, and the widespread adoption of driver’s airbags in the center of the steering wheel. These airbags have saved the lives of thousands of drivers in frontal collisions. From studying the results of these accidents, we have also learned about some unintended consequences of holding the wheel at 10 and 2 when the airbags inflate at a speed of 200 miles per hour:

• Your hands can be pushed into your face at high speed, causing a fracture or concussion, as well as injuries to your face
• Your fingers, hand or arm could be amputated by the airbag
• Your skin could be torn off of your hands or arms by the force of the explosion

The driver’s airbag is designed to deploy in an upward direction, which is why your hands should not be placed anywhere on the top half of the steering wheel. After all those decades of training drivers to hold the wheel at 10 and 2, it suddenly became a dangerous practice. It was time to re-educate the driving public.

The safest way is to hold the wheel at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock To maximize the safety of the driver behind the wheel in today’s airbag-equipped cars, safety authorities from NHTSA on down now recommend that we all hold the steering wheel at the 9 o’clock and the 3 o’clock positions. In addition to providing the best chance of surviving a frontal accident without additional injuries, this also gives drivers improved control of their vehicles at all other times. The 9 and 3 position still allows each hand to move the steering wheel up to 180 degrees, which may be necessary in an emergency.

A firm but gentle grip on the wheel is suggested, with your thumbs pointing upwards on the face of the wheel rim, and not hooked over it. This allows your hands and arms to be propelled away from the wheel and to the sides without injury, should the airbag go off.

If you are on a long highway drive and you’d like to change the position of your hands on the wheel, the 8 and 4 position is fine to use when cruising at higher speeds. Your two-handed range of motion is slightly less, but you don’t typically need to (or want to) make large movements of the wheel at interstate speeds. If you do need to make a quick move with the wheel, either use a single hand or move back to 9 and 3.

There is also an update from NHTSA on using the older “hand over hand” technique for making turns. It is still acceptable for making tight low-speed turns, parking, and recovering from a skid. It should no longer be used for high-speed turns, in the event of an airbag-triggering accident when your hands are near the top of the wheel. Instead, the “push/pull” method should be used. This involves keeping your hands close to the 9 and 3 position, while pushing the wheel up with one hand and pulling it down with the other. Doing this keeps your hands out of the danger zone between 10 and 2.

Let’s all practice safe steering

Now that you are aware of this, we hope that you will keep the safety angle in mind the next time you place your hands on the steering wheel. Let’s review:

• Place your hands at 9 and 3
• Stop using 10 and 2
• Stop using 12 o’clock
• Stop using your knees
• Stop texting (imagine your phone hitting your face at 200 mph!)

Remember, your airbags are there to save your life, not to produce serious injuries that can be avoided. Your actions can make the difference. Be safe out there!