[Driving Guide] Steering

When discussing the normal way to hold the steering wheel and the safest method for turning it, it is helpful to think of the area around the steering wheel as a clock face. As you turn the wheel, the imaginary clock face remains in the same position.

The standard position for your hands should be with your left hand at the ten or nine o’clock position and your right hand at the two or three o’clock position. Your hands should be opposite each other, so you are using either the ten to two position or the quarter to three position. Grip the wheel loosely with your fingers wrapped around the outside of the wheel and your thumbs inside.

The safest way to steer is to use the push-pull method. This means your hands should always stay opposite each other: while one hand pulls the wheel down or pushes it up, the other hand slides to form a mirror image of it on the other side.

As the left hand pulls down to steer left, the right hand slides down to meet it at the six o’clock position. As the left hand pushes up, steering right, the right hand continues to mirror the left by sliding upwards.

You could connect the two hands with a horizontal line at any time. Control is switched between the hands at the twelve and six o’clock positions. This means the wheel can continue to be turned while the two hands stay opposite each other.

Neither hand should ever cross the six or the twelve o’clock position. The left hand stays on the left side of the wheel and the right hand stays on the right.

With the push-pull method, at least one hand has a firm grip on the wheel at all times. The wheel can be turned easily and quickly in either direction at any time with no loss of control.