Even if some knowledge ( like how to collimate park ) has fade since you last take driver ’s erectile dysfunction , this tidbit may have stuck : When holding a steering rack , your hand are imagine to be at the 10 and 2 positions , as on a clock . This location gives you the most control condition if you demand to ferment your gondola suddenly , and was therefore considered the safe for years . But if you ’ve taken a drive course latterly , you may have heard something entirely different . Thanks to changes in air bag design,9 and 3is now the recommended hand spot .
Placing your hands higher up on the steering wheel gives you a estimable bobby pin , but it also localize your arm directly in the track of the airbag should it go off . As the airbag inflates upwards , it could potentially lunge your custody toward your face and break your olfactory organ or cause a head hurt . The chemic chemical reaction that touch off the airbag also pose a safety hazard . When a auto sense a collapse , a flash of nitrogen gas deploys the airbag , cushion the driver ’s head and upper body in case they fling forward — but if their hands are too close to the airbag when it open up , the super - spicy chemicals may cause additional trauma .
The answer to these risks , harmonize to the AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [ PDF ] , is to simply move your hired hand lower down the wheel . Holding the steering bike at diametrical sides—9 and 3 — gives you sufficient leverage while hold your arms out of the agency of the steering wheel column and the airbag inside it . Some experts even recommended place your hands even lower , at 8 and 4 , to minimize the luck of injury as much as potential .
Steering guidelines may have evolved , but other rubber tips — like keeping your headlights on in defective weather and maintaining a good aloofness from other cable car — are just as useful today as they were 10 ago . Here aresome more tipsto keep in mind when driving during the winter months .
