Hello I'm Chris. I've seen a lot of different steering techniques. Gangster, [Music]
steering with one hand,
[Music]
wax on wax off,
but would you fail the UK driving test for your steering technique? No. As long as you're in
control of your car and keeping both hands on the steering when needed will be important for this.
Well that's great news and the end of the video. But did those techniques really demonstrate good
control of the car? Not only that, but with those techniques, when you steer,
your arms cover the airbag which is in the centre of the steering wheel. The airbag explodes out in
a crash at approximately 100 to 200 miles per hour. You're going to get your hands or wrists
in your face at that speed. So it's definitely best to keep your arms clear of the airbag.
Another steering method I've seen is where people put their hand through the steering wheel here.
Again, not only does it cover the airbag but if you drive over a big pothole or get involved in
an accident then the steering wheel could spin back and really hurt your wrists. To be able to
steer the car and be in control we first need to make sure that the seat is correctly adjusted.
Some seats are adjusted with buttons but this one's manual.
If you can, then adjust the height of the seat first. Make sure you're sitting high enough to
get a good view of the road ahead but also have a space between your head and the roof. Ideally,
when you look straight ahead your eye line is roughly in line with the middle of the window.
You could also sit on a cushion if it helps. To adjust the part of the seat you're sitting on,
there's a bar at the front of the seat. With one hand on the steering wheel and one on the bar,
adjust the seat so that when you press the clutch to the floor in a manual car or accelerator in an
automatic that there's a slight bend in your leg. You don't want to be stretching or too
cramped up to the pedals or you'll have less control and get more tired on long journeys.
Next is the back part of the seat. In this car, it's adjusted by turning this dial but some cars
are different. Adjust the seat so that you're comfortable. It should support your back while
you're driving. You don't want to be lying down or stretching for the steering wheel
or squashed up to it as you'll have less control and it will be uncomfortable on long journeys.
Now you might need to adjust the position of the steering wheel. The steering wheel
is on a column which is often adjustable. To check that it's in the best position,
sit back in your seat, put your arms out and rest your wrists on top of the steering wheel. If you
can't reach it or your wrists are behind the steering wheel then you'll have to adjust it.
To adjust the steering wheel in this car there's a catch just here. It's a
bit stiff and be careful your knee isn't in the way and pull it down.
You can now move the steering wheel up and down if you can't see the dials and
in and out. Now try reaching your arms out again and make sure that your wrists touch the top of
the steering wheel and then push the catch back up to lock it in position. If you can't adjust
the position of the steering wheel in your car then you might need to adjust the seat a bit
more to get in the best position. You've adjusted the seat and the steering wheel and you're now
sitting in the best position for driving to give you maximum control and comfort. Now when holding
the steering wheel there should be a slight bend in your arms. You're not stretching or too close.
For safety, just make sure your head restraint is in the correct position.
The rigid part of the head restraint should be at least as high as your eyes or top of your ears
and as close to the back of your head as comfortable.
Pull it up to adjust it or press this button at the base and move it down. Just so you know,
in some cars you can also adjust the height of the seat belt so that it doesn't cut into your neck.
Ideally, for control and safety, it's recommended to have your hands on the steering wheel in this
quarter-to-three position or ten-to-two. Whichever you feel is more comfortable.
Holding the steering wheel in either of these positions means that you're not
blocking the airbag and you're ready to react to anything that you need to effectively.
Keep both hands on the steering wheel when driving unless you're using a control or you
physically can't. One hand on the steering wheel like this gives you less control and it can weigh
down the steering to one side and make you gradually steer to the side your hand is.
You won't get any faults on your driving test for how you hold the steering wheel as long as
you're in control and holding the steering wheel with both hands when you should. When
driving around gradual bends like this, there's no need to shuffle your hands on the steering wheel.
Have a light grip and just keep your hands fixed on the steering wheel.
There's no need to steer like this.
Just have a light grip on the steering wheel and smoothly steer without any jerky movements.
So keeping your hands fixed on the steering wheel is ideal for gradual and small turns
but if I keep my hands fixed on the steering wheel for big turns then it doesn't work.
The car swung out too far from the kerb and my arms blocked the airbag.
For big turns like at junctions, when normally driving at a slower speed, I'll have to move my
hands on the steering wheel feeding the steering wheel round using a technique called pull-push.
Now normally when using the pull-push technique you'd keep both hands on the steering wheel,
but for demonstration purposes only I want to show you how only one hand grips at a time. I'll show
you in slow motion. When I steer right I'll start by gripping with my right hand at the top and
pull down to the bottom then my left hand meets it, grips and I'll push up with my left hand.
To steer left, grip with my left hand, pull down, right hand doesn't grip but
takes over at the bottom. Right hand grips, pushes up. To steer right,
right hand grips, left hand pushes up from the bottom. To straighten the steering,
left hand grips from the top and pulls down, right hand doesn't grip but slides down the
steering wheel to the bottom, meets my left hand and now I'll push up with my right hand.
And now the steering is straight. It might look tricky but it just takes a
bit of practice. You can actually practice the pull-push steering at home with a plate
and try and turn it as if it's a steering wheel. Just be careful not to drop it.
So don't forget that only one hand grips at a time and use the whole
size of the steering wheel for big efficient turns. Try to keep your
hands mirroring each other, meeting at the top and bottom of the steering wheel.
You'd normally keep both hands on the steering wheel but I just wanted to show how only one is
gripping at a time. The other hand slides down or up ready to take over from the other hand.
Your right hand stays to the right half of the steering wheel and the left keeps to the left.
You might think that it's a slow, ineffective way of steering, but you can actually steer
quite quick if needed. Pull down with one hand, then push up with the other.
Pull down from the top, push up from the bottom.
Some new drivers think this little shuffle is the pull-push steering,
but it isn't quite right. It's more work and less effective.
This also isn't pull-push steering. It's not as effective and quite jerky.
It can vary slightly from car to car but in this car, with the wheels pointing straight,
it's about one and a half turns to the left or right for maximum steering, also called full-lock.
If you loosen your grip on the steering wheel after a turn then it will self-straighten because
of something clever called caster angle. The front wheels will return to point straight on their own,
but the speed at which it does self-straighten can vary depending on the speed you're travelling
and the car you're driving. So, although it straightens itself, it's still good to
straighten the steering yourself for maximum precise control. If you loosen your grip to
allow it to self-straighten as you drive over a pothole for example, then you could lose control.
When it comes to slow reversing then you can hold the steering
wheel with one hand near the top and one hand low down on the wheel
or if it's uncomfortable then you can rest your left arm on the back of the front passenger seat.
Steer in the direction you want the back of the car to go.
Left to make the back go left and right for it to go right. You might find that
you need to start turning or straightening the steering earlier than seems necessary.
Bear in mind that the front of the car turns in the opposite direction to the back.
Let's leave the car park and go onto some roads.
Knowing how much to turn and when to straighten the wheels gets better with practice.
It's very easy to cross arms and straighten the steering too late.
Start to straighten the steering before the car is straight. You need to time it so that
the wheels are pointing straight as soon as the car is pointing where you want it to go.
Also trying to find the exit to a car park can be a challenge.
Pull-push steering for these big turns.
Steering left, left hand pulls down from the top.
Back to gradual turns, so keeping my hands fixed on the steering wheel.
For this sharp corner, back to the pull-push steering. Pull down from the top with my right
hand, push up with my left then straighten the wheels and go around the park vehicles.
Keep the steering smooth as you go around the roundabout without any jerky sudden movements.
You don't want to destabilize your car or make your passengers sway around,
so try to steer with nice smooth movements.
You will get used to how your car behaves when turning at different speeds as they do vary.
Someone practising the reverse parking manoeuvre. Keeping my hands fixed on the steering wheel here.
Nice and smooth, no jerky movements.
Avoid steering like this. Bad technique, didn't steer enough and went towards the kerb.
If you want some tips on how to turn left, then have a look at our other video. I'll
leave a link for you in the description. Let's say on your driving test, that you cross your
arms when you turn left but it was a safe precise turn, you didn't swing out wide from the kerb or
swing towards it or a parked vehicle after the turn, then you wouldn't get any driving faults.
So crossing your arms isn't a fault on the driving test as long as you're in control. But
don't forget, you would be blocking the airbag. Try to avoid doing any jerky movements like this.
Steering right. Pull down with my right hand,
push up with my left, now pull down with the left, push up with the right.
When you steer, try not to let your hands go past the 12 o'clock position.
For when you're normally driving slow and need to do big turns then use the pull-push steering.
[Music] If you want to know how
to drive a manual car then watch this video next. It covers how and when to change gear, plus how
to use clutch control and lots more. Thanks a lot for watching. Please give it a like if it helped
and subscribe for more videos like this. In the meantime, keep safe on the road and bye for now!