You can see another sign of the sad state of driving competency on today's roads by watching where other drivers are holding the steering wheel.
For too many drivers, their habitual position is on the top of the wheel -- with one or both hands.
This is a bad idea, for several reasons. If it is something you do, it means either 1) your arms are extended too far away from your body or 2) you are sitting too close to the wheel.
Extending your arms accelerates fatigue, because holding them high for long periods of time is tiring.
On the other hand, sitting too close to the wheel is dangerous. It restricts your ability to steer the wheel quickly in an emergency, and it leaves you in danger of impacting the air bag if it deploys.
An air bag is not like a plastic trash bag. It is made of very strong nylon and it virtually explodes out of the steering column at 200 miles per hour or so -- faster than a major league baseball player can swing a bat. If an air bag hits you when it deploys, it could break your hands, wrists, arms, ribs or face.
Holding the wheel with one hand is even worse, because it offers less emergency control.
The proper way to hold a steering wheel is to hold it somewhere between the 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock positions on the left, and between 2 and 4 on the right. The exact placement of your hands depends on the location of the supports that connect the wheel to the steering column.
Keep your body back far enough to clear an air-bag deployment -- about 12 inches, so you can hold your thumb and little finger outstretched in between without nearly touching either yourself or the wheel. Your arms should not be so far away that they are not bent at the elbows.
Something that could make the whole process easier would be a telescoping steering wheel or adjustable foot pedals -- or both -- but so far only a few vehicle manufacturers offer such options.
This position -- arms comfortably bent and hands at mid-range on the wheel -- offers the best control, least fatigue and least risk of air-bag injury.
Incidentally, highway-safety experts now recommend keeping your hands in the same position even when turning. Instead of the old-fashioned way of pulling hand-over-hand at the top of the wheel, the experts advise shuttling the wheel continuously through your hands. It might seem a little awkward at first, but it can be done well with practice.
The bigger problem is retraining yourself to keep your hands off of the top of the wheel. If you have trouble doing so, here is a tip: Practice driving with no hands.
The emphasis here is on "practice." That means do not try this on the road. Instead, go to an unoccupied place, such as an empty street or parking lot.
Start moving your vehicle, but keep your hands in your lap or on the seat, until you need to turn the wheel. Then, grab the wheel and make the turn, but then return your hands to your lap or the seat. Continue to do this for a while, even if you have to do it frequently. Pretty soon, your hands will begin to grip the right part of the wheel naturally.
This exercise serves another purpose: It will help you realize that steering is a process that takes place through your eyes, not your hands. This is a critical concept to good driving. You should use your eyes to determine where the vehicle should be going, and your hands should simply follow orders as your brain processes the visual information.
So, drop your hands and steer with a lighter touch as a way to leave behind some bad driving habits.
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Phil Berardelli is the author of "The Driving Challenge: Dare To Be Safer and Happier on the Road." This column welcomes comments and questions. E-mail: [email protected]
