Advances in automotive technology and safety research have rendered some of your driving education obsolete.
by Joseph D. Younger
If your 10-year high school reunion has already come and gone, then a lot of what you learned in driver education has become outdated. Surprised? Don’t be. Every few years, high schools update their science textbooks to reflect advances in physics, chemistry, and biology. History teachers change their curriculum based on new scholarship. So it’s no wonder that driver’s ed evolves and changes along with new safety research and especially new automotive technology. How many of these obsolete behind-the-wheel techniques do you still use? Check out the “old-school” method and get hip to its 21st century evolution.
Seating Position
More than likely, your driving instructor didn’t spend too much time on seating position. As long as you could reach the pedals and buckle your safety belt, you were good to go.
By the early 1990s, however, the federal government mandated airbags for both drivers and passengers, turning seating position into a critical issue. It became particularly controversial by the mid-’90s, when several people suffered serious injuries from sitting too close to deploying airbags. In 1996, safety experts began recommending that all drivers sit 10 to 12 inches away from the steering wheel to prevent airbag-related injuries.
That advice still holds true.
“You should be able to comfortably fit a rolled up sheet of paper between your chest and the center of the steering wheel,” said Steve Phillips, manager of AAA Carolina’s Traffic Safety Department and Driver Improvement instructor. The advent of so-called “de-powered” airbags hasn’t altered the recommended 10- to 12-inch distance in the least. “Manufacturers have reduced airbags’ power by about 25 percent since then,” notes Dr. William Van Tassel, director of driver training operations for AAA national. “So now, instead of deploying at 200 mph, they deploy at 150 mph. Even at that, they still pack quite a punch.”
Steering Grip
In your first behind-the-wheel lesson, you learned to grip the steering wheel with your fingers over the top and your thumbs underneath, left hand at 10 o’clock and right hand at 2 o’clock. In fact, many drivers’ ed instructors still teach the 10-and-2 technique.
Again, airbags changed that.
“We recommend putting your hands at 4 and 8 o’clock,” said Phillips. “It’s more restful and your biceps help keep your arms from getting tired on long trips.”
Along with the change in position comes a change in grip; wrap your fingers under the wheel, with your thumbs on top. The new position and grip accompany a change in steering technique, one better suited to a wheel from which an airbag will pop out—as explained below.
Steering Technique
The 10-and-2 position encourages the hand-over-hand method to turn the wheel. On a right turn, for example, your left hand pushes the wheel up, down, and around.
Meanwhile, your right hand goes over your left to pull the wheel in the same direction.
Though simple and effective, especially on tight turns, the hand-over-hand method has one major drawback: your forearm inevitably winds up over the airbag cover.
“In head-on collisions, drivers usually dial in some steering to make angle of impact shallower,” notes Van Tassel. “With your hands at 10 and 2 and hand-over-hand steering, it doesn’t take too much input before your forearm is over the hub.”
Again, when the airbag deploys, your hand, wrist, or forearm will whack your face. At best, you’ll suffer facial lacerations from a watch, ring, or bracelet. At worst, you’ll break a wrist, nose, or cheekbone.
Today, the push-pull-slide method has replaced hand-over-hand.
On a right turn, for instance, with your hand at 4 and 8 o’clock, the left hand pushes the wheel up while the right pulls it down. Meanwhile, the left hand slides back to 8 o’clock to continue pushing; then, the right slides back to 4 to continue pulling. Neither hand ever leaves the wheel. Because neither forearm ever crosses the steering wheel hub, the push-pull-slide method eliminates the risk of whacking yourself in the face during an airbag deployment. It also offers better steering control in an emergency and allows finer steering inputs—making it especially appropriate for vehicles with variable-ratio steering.
Normal Braking
In driver’s ed, you probably learned to control the speed of deceleration by modulating the pressure of your foot on the brake pedal. This usually involved gradually increasing pedal pressure and easing up slightly as you came to a halt.
Nowadays, however, with nearly every car having more powerful four-wheel disc brakes, “instructors emphasize making the pressure as linear as possible,” notes Van Tassel.
Essentially, that means keeping your heel on the floor and using the smaller muscles in your toes for finer control, rather than lifting up your foot and using the leg’s big muscles. It also means judging your stopping distance so that you apply the same degree of pressure from the moment you step on the brake until the vehicle halts.
“You should try not to vary the pedal pressure,” says Van Tassel. “It allows you to stop more smoothly and saves brake wear.”
Emergency Braking
For emergency stops, your instructor probably taught you either to pump the brakes or to employ “threshold braking” (pressing the pedal to the point at which the wheels lock up, then backing off a smidge and holding it there).
The near-ubiquity of antilock brakes has made those techniques obsolete.
“Simply keep a steady, firm pressure on the pedal, and steer where you want the car to go,” said Phillips. “The antilock system does the pumping for you. Be sure you practice this, so you are not surprised with the kickback from the brake pedal. That is the milliseconds lock/unlock that allows you to control your steering.”
Slick-Surface Braking
Besides pumping the pedal or using threshold braking, you may have been taught to put the transmission in neutral when stopping on ice or other slick surfaces. Theoretically, this removes residual torque from the two drive wheels and allows braking force to affect all four wheels equally.
Shifting to neutral has become passé, however.
“Think it through,” advises Van Tassel. “If you simply take your foot off the accelerator and shift into neutral, the vehicle will eventually come to a stop, even if you don’t apply the brake. But if you take your foot off the accelerator and leave the transmission it gear, it will come to a stop even faster, because the drag of engine compression helps to slow it down.”
Besides, while stopping on ice, better you have both hands on the wheel and both eyes on road, rather than having one hand on the shifter and one eye searching for “N.”
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