How to Steer a Car Properly | Driving Instructor Explains
Summary
TLDRIn this driving lesson, Jack teaches proper steering techniques, emphasizing the importance of comfortable seating and the '9 and 3' hand position on the steering wheel. He explains the need to let the steering wheel return to center and demonstrates various turns, from 90 to 360 degrees, highlighting the car's natural tendency to go straight. Jack advises on maintaining a relaxed grip and using road markings to guide turns, ensuring precision and safety.
Takeaways
- 🔧 Steering a car requires precise movements, often almost a full 360-degree turn for sharp corners.
- 💺 Adjusting your seat position is crucial for comfortable and effective steering; aim for a slight bend in the elbow at the '9 and 3 o'clock' position on the steering wheel.
- 🤲 Maintain a relaxed grip on the steering wheel with elbows down and thumbs up to ensure smooth turns.
- 🔄 Let the steering wheel return to center by itself after making turns to take advantage of the car's natural tendency to go straight.
- 📚 For learners, using resources like zootopia.com can significantly help prepare for driving tests with practice tests and detailed explanations.
- 🛣️ When driving straight, minimal steering is needed, but be prepared to make slight adjustments for road conditions like curves or potholes.
- 🔄 Understanding the steering wheel as a 360-degree circle helps in knowing how much to turn for different road angles.
- 🚗 The car's design assists in steering; use the car's natural straight alignment to make the necessary turns and then release to go straight.
- 🚦 Pay attention to road markings which are designed to help guide your steering and ensure you're on the correct path.
- 💪 Avoid tensing up, especially the shoulders and grip, as it can lead to wobbly steering and loss of precision.
- 🅿️ Practice parking to hone your steering skills, ensuring each movement is deliberate and matches the turn's requirements.
Q & A
What is the recommended hand position on the steering wheel while driving?
-The recommended hand position is at nine and three o'clock, similar to a clock face, with a slight bend in the elbows, ensuring comfort and proper control.
Why is it important to have the correct chair position while driving?
-Correct chair positioning is crucial for comfort and control. If you're too close to the steering wheel, your arms may feel tight and bound, and if you're too far, you might have to stretch to make movements.
How should your elbows and thumbs be positioned while steering?
-Your elbows should be hanging down, and your thumbs should be up. This prevents your hands from being twisted down at the bottom or up at the top of the wheel, allowing for smooth turns.
What does the instructor mean by letting the steering wheel do its own work?
-The instructor means that the car's design naturally wants to go straight, so you should gently guide the wheel unless making a turn, letting it return to center after the turn.
What is the significance of the nine and three o'clock position on the steering wheel?
-The nine and three o'clock position is significant because it allows for maximum control and safety while driving, providing a comfortable and effective grip on the steering wheel.
How can the steering wheel be thought of in terms of degrees?
-The steering wheel can be thought of as a circle of 360 degrees, where you might turn it 90, 180, or 360 degrees to the left or right depending on the angle of the turn required.
What is the role of the road markings in assisting with steering?
-Road markings, such as dotted lines and stamps, help guide the driver by providing a visual focus on where they need to end up, assisting in precise steering.
Why is it advised to keep your shoulders and elbows relaxed while driving?
-Keeping your shoulders and elbows relaxed prevents unnecessary tension, which can lead to a wobbly feeling while steering. It allows for smoother and more precise control of the steering wheel.
What is the recommended approach when making turns at different angles?
-When making turns, you should match the rotation of the steering wheel with the curve of the road, ensuring precise steering without oversteering or understeering.
How does the design of the car assist in steering?
-The design of the car assists in steering by naturally wanting to go straight, which means you only need to make slight adjustments to the steering wheel to navigate turns and curves.
What is the significance of the steering wheel returning to center after a turn?
-The significance of the steering wheel returning to center is that it allows the car to naturally realign with the road, ensuring straight travel and reducing the need for constant steering adjustments.
Outlines
🚗 Steering Basics and Comfortable Positioning
The paragraph introduces Jack, a driving instructor, who discusses the fundamentals of steering a car. He emphasizes the importance of being comfortable while driving and finding the right seating position relative to the steering wheel. Jack explains that being too close or too far can hinder steering ability. He advises positioning the hands at the nine and three o'clock positions on the steering wheel, with elbows slightly bent and hands relaxed. Jack also covers the concept of letting the steering wheel return to center by itself and introduces the idea of steering wheel rotation in degrees, from 90 to 360 degrees, depending on the driving situation.
🛣️ Understanding Steering Wheel Rotation and Road Awareness
In this section, Jack elaborates on the need to understand the unique angles of each turn and how to match the steering wheel rotation to the road's curves. He points out that the steering wheel and tires are designed to maintain a straight line, so minimal steering is required when driving straight. Jack also addresses the common issue of new drivers tensing up, which can lead to imprecise steering. He demonstrates how to make precise turns, such as 90-degree turns, by using the car's natural tendency to go straight and letting the steering wheel return to center after the turn. Jack also mentions the importance of using road markings to guide the steering and ensure precise turns.
🅿️ Advanced Steering Techniques and Parking
The final paragraph focuses on advanced steering techniques, particularly when parking. Jack discusses how to approach parking a car by thinking of the steering wheel as a 360-degree circle and matching the turn to the requirements of the parking space. He advises keeping elbows down and thumbs up while turning the wheel to ensure smooth and precise movements. Jack also mentions that older cars may require more physical effort for steering but the same principles apply. He concludes by encouraging drivers to be comfortable with steering and to use the road markings as aids, and he wishes them a good day.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Steering Wheel
💡Elbow Position
💡Nine and Three
💡Steering Precisely
💡Chair Position
💡360 Degrees
💡Guiding
💡Oversteer
💡Tension
💡Zootopia.com
💡Straight Position
Highlights
Jack is back as a driving teacher, focusing on proper steering techniques.
The importance of arm position for holding the steering wheel correctly.
How to move hands to rotate the steering wheel and let it return to center.
Proper chair positioning for comfort and effective steering.
Hands should be at nine and three on the steering wheel for optimal control.
Elbows should hang down and thumbs up to avoid twisting hands on the wheel.
The steering wheel should return to center on its own to ensure smooth driving.
Zootopia.com is recommended for DMV practice tests and driver's education.
Guiding the steering wheel is more about being relaxed and letting the car move forward.
Understanding the degree of steering wheel turns for different road conditions.
The steering wheel is thought of as a circle with 360 degrees for precise turns.
The car's design naturally wants to go straight, so steering adjustments should be minimal.
Steering should be precise to avoid accidents or blocking oncoming traffic.
Relaxing the shoulders and grip can prevent unnecessary tension and wobbly steering.
Demonstration of a 90-degree right turn requiring almost 360 degrees of wheel turn.
Using the car's design to make the slightest curves necessary for turns.
The importance of road markings in guiding the steering wheel.
Driving an older car may require more muscle power and work for steering.
Turning into a parking spot with precision and understanding of the wheel's circular nature.
The video concludes with a reminder to keep elbows down and thumbs up for effective steering.
Transcripts
this right turn up here is a pretty
direct 90 degree angle and let's see how
much I have to turn the steering wheel
almost 360 Degrees to make that right
corner precisely in my position
hey this is Jack
happy to be back as your driving teacher
today
we're going to spend some time thinking
about how to steer properly and we're
going to talk about our arm position so
that we can hold the steering wheel and
steal properly we're going to be talking
about how we move our hands to rotate
the wheel and we're going to be talking
about how we let the steering wheel do
its own work and return back to Center
so the first thing I want to talk about
is how to position your chair so that
you're super comfortable
if you were too close to the steering
wheel
like this it would be hard for you to
move the steering wheel because your
arms would feel really tight and bound
and if you're too far away from the
steering wheel
[Music]
then you feel like you have to really
stretch to make any movements and that
could feel weird too
so I want to encourage you to find that
sweet spot
where you're close enough that you can
hold on to the steering wheel
comfortably at nine and three there's a
slight Bend in your elbow it might be a
little bit more than 90 degrees but just
make sure that you're comfortable
when we're thinking about steering the
first thing I want you to think about is
having your hands on the steering wheel
at nine and three and you can think
about this steering wheel like a clock
nine o'clock three o'clock twelve
o'clock and six o'clock
an important thing is to always try to
keep your elbows hanging down your
thumbs up you don't want to get your
hands Twisted down at the bottom of the
wheel nor up at the top of the wheel if
you find yourself with your elbows up
you're not turning properly
instead you should be able to turn the
wheel super smooth
keeping your elbows down and your thumbs
up
or you might do a more powerful turning
move
turning and pulling and holding
an important part of steering is letting
the steering wheel come back to home
if you're studying for your permit or
learning to drive I recommend that you
check out zootopia.com they have an
amazing app with tons of DMV practice
tests to help prepare you for your
permit test it goes through everything
you need to know in detail and has
hundreds of illustrations to make it
easier to understand and remember the
information
with more than 100 000 ratings zootobi
is one of the most widely used drivers
ed resources in the US and a must-have
for Learners check it out and see for
yourself
so the first important thing for you to
think about is how you don't have to do
much steering when you want to go
straight
you might because of the curve in a road
and the way the road is designed have to
slightly guide the steering wheel to the
left or the right imagine if there's a
pothole or if your road is on a hill and
there's a slight decline to one side or
the other in that case you're doing
guiding not necessarily too much work so
just think about it as being relaxed and
letting the car guide you forward and
let the steering wheel do its work
but if you're going to make any Curves
in the road or any turns you're going to
have to learn just exactly how much you
want to turn the steering wheel
so to talk about how much to turn the
steering wheel I want to think about the
steering wheel in two different ways
first I want to think about it as a
circle 360 degrees
there are times when you might turn the
steering wheel 90 degrees to the left
or 90 degrees to the right
there are other times where you might
turn the steering wheel
180 degrees to the left or
180 degrees to the right
and then there are times when you might
turn the steering wheel 360 Degrees to
the left
or 360 Degrees to the right
that sounds a little technical when
we're sitting on the side of the road or
you're sitting at home thinking about
driving but once you get out on the road
and you realize that Each corner is
going to have its own unique angle and
that you're going to have to get to know
your steering wheel to know how much you
should turn you're going to realize that
it really is important to know sometimes
you'll do a little bit of a turn
sometimes you'll do a lot
sometimes you'll do more
let's see how that looks when we're out
on the road
another important thing to think about
is how our steering wheel and our tires
are designed to go straight so we hardly
have to hold the wheel we can just
gently guide the wheel unless we're
making a turn
then we have to match the rotation of
our steering turn with the curve of the
road
so that we can steer just enough but not
too much
if we oversteer
we risk bumping into
a parked car
or accidentally if we go too wide
blocking oncoming traffic
so we want to be really precise with the
amount of steering that we do with our
wheel holding just long enough
to get around our curves and then
straightening back up to continue going
forward
one of the common challenges that I see
with new drivers when they get nervous
is that they have a tendency to scrunch
up their shoulders and tighten their
grip on the steering wheel and that
actually creates an unnecessary tension
with the steering wheel and can create a
kind of wobbly feeling
so if you find yourself 10 step and your
shoulders 10 step and your elbows tensed
up try to just sit back in the seat
think about how your shoulder blades
should be resting gently on the back of
the seat your elbows should be hanging
down comfortably and you should just be
lightly holding the steering wheel
this right turn up here is a pretty
direct 90 degree angle and let's see how
much I have to turn the steering wheel
almost 360 Degrees to make that right
corner precisely in my position
this left turn is also 90 degrees
let's see how much I have to turn the
wheel
to make a really good 90 degree left
turn here
I'm always going to start with my right
hand on the left turn pushing
pulling
and that was about
270 degrees about three quarters of a
turn of the steering wheel
for this right turn
I'm going to hold the steering wheel to
the right
and then turn just a little bit more as
I finish my turn before gently releasing
so that the steering wheel can go
straight again
again I'm using the design of the car
which wants to go straight
I'm making the slightest curves that are
necessary to get me around the corner
and I'm letting the steering wheel
return back to Center which is a really
important part of steering
understanding that the steering wheel
wants to go back to Center
and the steering wheel connected to the
tires wants to go back to its straight
position
the dotted lines on the ground ahead of
me and the stamps are going to help me
so that when I'm guiding my steering I
really have some focus on where I need
to end up and that's helpful remember
that you're not in this alone the
Traffic Engineers have done a lot of
work to paint the roads to help line up
your uh
your tires and just help you take the
guesswork out of how much you have to
steer
all along this road I'm tracking the
yellow line to the left
I'm guiding the wheel so that I stay
centered above the stamps
and I'm steering just enough making the
slightest rotation of my wheel
to make the slightest curve of my wheels
now if you get the chance to drive an
older car where the steering isn't as
smooth of course you're going to have to
do more work
it might take a little bit more muscle
power to get the steering wheel to turn
but you'll use the same idea and
understanding about the steering wheel
as a circle
thinking about the degrees of turn that
match the road conditions
[Music]
and also think about your guiding hands
sitting in the nine and three o'clock
position
and now we are going to turn into a
parking spot
and I hope that you feel a little bit
more comfortable thinking about the
steering wheel as a 360 degree circle or
as a clock understanding that every
movement has to be precise and match the
requirements of the turn you're going to
take
and remember that you want to keep your
elbows down and your thumbs up as you
turn the wheel so that when you release
the wheel back to Center you can be
ready to continue going straight thanks
a lot have a great rest of the day
[Music]
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