Core77

Ergonomically, you have more control of the wheel at 10 and 2... Granted; autocross and track doesn't necessarily compare to day to day driving.

I was taught 20 years ago, that 9 and 3 was safest for cars with airbags. 10 and 2 was out way back then...

Remember, most steering wheels are angled upward (the amount being variable depending on the size of your belly, height of the car, and what you find comfortable), so you have to reach farther to hit 10 and 2 than you do on the lower portion of the the wheel. Especially, I'd imagine, if your arms are short. Basically, I think their point is that with your hands at 10 and 2, your arms are more likely to be draped over the airbag (doubly so if you're doing a hand-over-hand turn). With them in the lower position, your arms are more likely to be at your sides.

This is interesting! My driver's education instructor actually taught me the same thing. He said that putting your hands at 9 and 3 or below is actually safer and better for your driving.

He was speaking from experience of being a crash investigator for 15 years. He said when you're at 10 and 2 or higher, you have a tendency to slip off the wheel, fold your arms in, and sometimes end up punching yourself in the face during an accident.

Your fist/wrist/forearm is a dangerous thing when its rocketing at your face at 100mph.

He also made the association that 10 and 2 is outdated for power steering as well, but he said that placing your hands at the very bottom of the steering wheel limits your control.

It is a bit odd, since several cars have steering wheels with rests or "grips" near those areas so you can hold the steering wheel more comfortably. Aiming at the 9-and-3 with the rests zones.

I try to drive with my hands at 9-and-3, but when you drive a car with manual transmission you go for the 10-and-2, at least I do, unconsciously.

Show me a race car driver that doesn't have their hands at 9-3, and I'll show you a bad race car driver.

Placing your hands low on the steering wheel limits your control of the car and your movements tend to be les accurate and rougher when you have the need to turn quickly. 9 and 3 are the position in which you have the greatest amount of control of the car.

I prefer having my hands in total control of the car and not crash, than crash because I was not able to avoid the accident and have my hands safe.

Useless research...

I was told by a chiropractor that keeping your hands lower on the steering wheel (9 and 3 or below) reduces the chance of your shoulders being injured or dislocated when the air bag deploys. He also related the unfortunate tale of the man who was fatally injured while smoking his pipe when the air bag deployed.

10 and 2 is particularly unsafe because if you do get in a crash and your airbags deploy, your arms are deflected into the side glass and potentially out of the vehicle. 9 and 3 keeps everything safely within the body structure where it is meant to be.

When I started road racing I was taught 9-3 was the most feedback you got from the car, mixed with the longest useable reach (keeping your hands on the wheel, not doing the hand over hand shuffle).

I still do that, even day to day driving. Just feels solid while still being comfortable. I admit though that I tend to wrap my thumbs around the wheel these days, which in a wreck would most likely mean broken thumb(s).

I've managed not to hit anything, so I am not sure about how the airbag would go with that. Didn't have one in the GT car, so I never really thought about it. But I would think it could be a danger to sending your arm in to or out of the side window where it could be in peril, especially in a rollover. Lower seems better for this, and I suppose if you're at 9-3 you'd most likely just be smacking the door card.

"ergonomically" unsafe? lol is that a thing?

I remember reading the paper that this likely stems from LAST YEAR, and it's not so much unsafe as unnecessary. You're going to get banged up by the airbag wherever your hands are on the wheel, but they don't need to be at 10 and 2 anymore, I think the suggestion was 4 and 8, to reduce fatigue.

Everyone is so sensationalist...

When children are small (while society still cares about them), it is mandatory that they be placed into 5-point racing harnesses (called "baby seats") at all times. The seats are quite comfortable when built nicely, and my child sleeps every time she gets into my car.

WHEN YOU'RE IN A PROPER SAFETY SEAT, AIRBAGS ARE JUST DANGEROUS AND STUPID. Every car with airbags comes with stickers that agree to this. Step 1: Get your baby into an approved seat. Step 2: Move them as far as possible from any airbags.

No professional racing driver uses airbags. What do real race drivers use? BABY SEATS!!!

Improper seating led to poor restraint, which led to airbags - which now seems to be leading toward improper steering techniques. As a design blog, it might be interesting to explore how 1 "bad" design choice can lead to a host of new bad problems with bad solutions.

No self-respecting designer will follow the status quo down such a terribly illogical design path. As a father, getting myself back into a baby-seat (racing seat) showed my kid that a proper harness isn't something to be ashamed of. She no longer struggles with the foolish societal idea that "real safety is for babies".

California Driving Handbook has been advocating the 8 and 4 for some time now.

Yes you guys are correct and I apologize. My clock face visual was skewed apparently... part way through my drive home I looked at where my hands were and they were hanging out right at 9/3.

DJ - yes theres a similarity between baby seats and racing seats however there are also big differences. For a start all racing drivers wear helmets and also HANS devices, which offer a much greater level of protection than just a 5 point harness alone. On top of that, for the 5 point harness to be properly tightened generally a second person is needed to tighten it from outside the car. So while the combination of these offer the racing car driver the greater level of safety required due to the greater level of risk, applying them effectively to an every day driving situation would be massively impractical, hence the development of air bags.

The Marines teach 8 & 4.
I've always done 8 & 4, even on the track.
It's more comfortable and if the air bag deploys my arms just go on my lap, not towards a window and a passenger.

The quarter to-three position is most ergonomic, authoritive and safe. Given the angle of the wheel, it grants you a hand position where the hands hold the wheel lower (relative to your shoulder height) and closer to you, which makes it less fatiguing. Also, the forearms are in a more neutral position and the palms can be wrapped around the periphery of the wheel with the wrists nice and straight and the thumbs lightly resting on the crossbrace of the wheel and under the intendations that create a padded "socket" for your thumbs.

It also increases your control of the wheel by producing a hand grip that is wider and more stable, and also allows to turn the wheel further to each side with both hands, allowing you to turn it about 260 degrees in each direction swiftly and accurately while always acknowleding where dead center is, and being able to steer further by crossing one hand over.

It is also more safe, due to the reason mentioned by AAA. The airbag opens at a speed of about 324.6 km/h, and the force is intensified by the velocity of the crash, the weight of the arms and by the volume of the airbag (it ranges between cars). In a high hand position, the hands are disludged by the airbag into the face or glass window.

Holding the wheel at 9-3 will not interfere with the arms or at least push them to your thighs, as the initial inflation of the airbag is in a triangular pattern. At worst they will be pushed sideways. The hands should also be in the proper height (this also depends on the seat adjustment) so that they won't be wedged between your ribs and door in a side-swipe or that they won't be drawn foward to the dash in a collision.

One last reason is that at a quarter to-three the hands will be directly in front of the window wipers and in nearer reach of all the controls of the car. There are also other reasons in favor of this grip.

Holding the wheel just slightly higher or lower is acceptable if the driver's height or shoulder width is unusually small, or if the rim is very oddly shaped or positioned.

This is exactly why 10 to-2 was adopted in the first place, since in very old cars the rims was very wide, so holding the wheel in quarter to three would place the hands too far apart. These cars also had poor seats and no airbags and the anchiliary controls were angled up to support this hand position, too.