Hand over Hand vs. Pull/Push steering method?

[seremify007]

Which one do you use?

I feel like a n00b not knowing which one is which... I just keep my hands at 9 and 3, and then turn... if I need to turn more, i lift the hand up and pull down again *shrugs*

[Dumsum]

Hand over hand you will cross your arms over and usually -only- pull. Push pull both hands will stay on their respective sides of the wheel.

Push pull is much safer, if you get into an accident. Reason being is that if your arm is over the wheel when the airbag explodes, there is a high chance of you whacking yourself in the head. Airbags are violent things, so it's quite possible to severely injure yourself.

At a defensive driving course I was taught something slightly different again. Both hands stay on their respective sides of the wheel, but you only ever pull. Say you want to turn right, you would move your right hand up and pull down. To exit out of the turn reach up with your left hand and pull down. Never let the wheel spin back by itself, and only ever be turning the wheel with one hand.

[Shell]

Hand over hand you will cross your arms over and usually -only- pull. Push pull both hands will stay on their respective sides of the wheel.

Push pull is much safer, if you get into an accident. Reason being is that if your arm is over the wheel when the airbag explodes, there is a high chance of you whacking yourself in the head. Airbags are violent things, so it's quite possible to severely injure yourself.

At a defensive driving course I was taught something slightly different again. Both hands stay on their respective sides of the wheel, but you only ever pull. Say you want to turn right, you would move your right hand up and pull down. To exit out of the turn reach up with your left hand and pull down. Never let the wheel spin back by itself, and only ever be turning the wheel with one hand.

YES! my dad is an instructor at those defence driving courses and he taught me the exact same way. Your right arm is called your 'leading arm', and he says i have a perfect leading arm.

im doing the stage one course next wed! YESS! cant wait. lol. for free too MUAHAHA

[king_of_boredom]

i use hand over hand, ACTUALLY a more hybrid version of both hand over hand and push pull which is super effective and never fails.

[petar13]

I've become addicted to using a steering wheel spinner that came with the car. I doubt it's any good for high speed/dangerous situations....

http://www.autobarn.net/8356.html

EDIT: I'm not even sure if these things are legal....

[Captain Gh3y]

Hand over hand you will cross your arms over and usually -only- pull. Push pull both hands will stay on their respective sides of the wheel.

Push pull is much safer, if you get into an accident. Reason being is that if your arm is over the wheel when the airbag explodes, there is a high chance of you whacking yourself in the head. Airbags are violent things, so it's quite possible to severely injure yourself.

At a defensive driving course I was taught something slightly different again. Both hands stay on their respective sides of the wheel, but you only ever pull. Say you want to turn right, you would move your right hand up and pull down. To exit out of the turn reach up with your left hand and pull down. Never let the wheel spin back by itself, and only ever be turning the wheel with one hand.

That method sounds less than useful when you're driving a 1970's Ford station wagon with no power steering.

[Shell]

That method sounds less than useful when you're driving a 1970's Ford station wagon with no power steering.

lol yes, thats true. my car is an early 80's falcon, but has power steering to its easy

[seremify007]

I'm driving a Terios (ie. have to turn a lot more to achieve the same turn) and I find myself having my hands below 3 and 9 sometimes when I turn... I know it's partially dangerous because that means I can not turn any further, but is this against the rules (ie. can I fail if I do this in the test)? Sometimes I also do that thing (mentioned above) where you lift your hand up and then pull down to do the turn if the turn is too much for me to do with the first method of just going as far as I can without having to move my hands off the wheel.

[Shell]

i dont think its an instant fail in the pz test if you turn the wheel a certain way. i mean, everyone has their own style. But you may lose points if its not a very safe way.

[bowman]

i use both methods depending on how i am driving, an what situation i am in

[DaddyK]

I just flick the steering wheel around. I'm pretty certain that those wheel handle spinners are illegal.

[iamsickofyear12]

I mostly drive with 1 hand. So when I turn I start to turn with that hand and once that gets too low I use the other hand to finish the turn. Sometimes I'll push my palm onto the edge of the wheel and do the whole turn with one hand. I always let it spin back by itself.

It's not the right way of doing it but it works for me.

... I was told by my driving instructor to use hand over hand when turning slow corners and push/pull when going faster.

[seremify007]

What did you guys do in your P's tests?

[iamsickofyear12]

In your P's test you should use hand over hand for slow turns and push/pull for bends.

[Pace_T]

i use push pull steering in all situations
my instructor told me that hand over hand is how girls drive

[Dumsum]

In the Ps test you can turn the wheel however the hell you want... they say you can use either method. As long as you always have at least one hand on the wheel and drive with two hands on the wheel where possible.

[shortygb]

i use both, sometimes one handed...ill have to give that defensive driving technique a go.

[loquasagacious]

Hand over hand is a more powerful technique so it tends to be used more in slow (eg lots of turning) corners, old cars with no power steering and by girls who are (comparitively) weak.

[mr_brightside]

I hate driving with people whos steering techniques are really shit. I just wanna grab the wheel of them and kick them out the door.

Push pull for me. Safest. More control. Hands are at 10 and 2 at basically ALL times.

[CieL]

Never let the wheel spin back by itself

Why?

I usually apply little pressure on the steering wheel with both hands whilst it turns back by itself

[55psi]

i use push if i need the wheel at full lock when parking, sometimes push/pull to turn into streets etc but i feel its a bad habit because its lazy driving because its one handed, i cant really remember how i turn actually.. I just know that its nice and smooth. And when the wheel returns, i just rub my hand over it so it returns slowly and smoothly. My grip is usually at 10 and 3.
I hate it when people drive with completely STRAIGHT arms pushing their body against the seat. Looks like theyre going at the speed of light or something. And their turnings heaps jolty coz the stiff arms doesnt give way to small vibrations.

[petar13]

Never let the wheel spin back by itself

Why?

I usually apply little pressure on the steering wheel with both hands whilst it turns back by itself

Correct me on this... but I think that it is because if you go over a bump (or etc.) some cars have the jittery tendency to snap the wheel back instantly in either direction - in which case you lose control. Unless you were holding it, as it spun through. This could be more prone to FWD - but I'm not sure.

[Dumsum]

Why?

I usually apply little pressure on the steering wheel with both hands whilst it turns back by itself

Just a control thing. Admittedly I still do it sometimes, especially in areas like carparks. By always holding on firmly at least you will always retain full control over where the car is going.

[loquasagacious]

Letting is spin back does not imply letting it run freely but allowing the car to turn in its time. eg it is not about letting go but allowing it to move in your hands. The result is smoother cornering than when you are hauling it around yourself. Obviously however the camber and castor (especially the later) needs to be set right for this to happen fluidly.

[seremify007]

I also let the wheel return itself a bit... just let it glide smoothly... easier than turning the wheel back!