A laboratory comparison of two steering techniques.

Manuals for the instruction of drivers at every skill level assert that the only safe way of controlling the vehicle is to hold the steering wheel with the hands in a '10-to-2' position and not to allow either hand to pass beyond the 12-o'clock position; see for example, Royal Automobile Club (1984), Institute of Advanced Motorists (1982) and Home Office (1985). During earlier research on the training of both professional drivers and private motorists it became clear that instructors were imposing these criteria very strictly in their teaching of steering techniques. Any tendency for the learners' hands to pass the 12-o'clock position or cross one another was prohibited. However, it was also observed that trainees with no previous driving experience almost invariably tried to use a crossed-hand technique for turns which required a steering-wheel rotation of more than about 180 degrees. Thus a substantial amount of training time was spent in eliminating what appeared to be a 'natural' control action. There is some anecdotal evidence that the apparent 'naturalness' of the crossed-hand method of vehicle steering is difficult to train out. The objective of this pilot study was to compare steering performance using the following. 1. The 10-to-2 push-pull technique, in which the controlling hand moves from rest to the 12-o'clock position, where it relinquishes control to the other hand which has moved up to meet it. Both hands then move down until control is resumed by the original hand, which again moves up to the 12-o'clock position. Turns are thus made by pushing with one hand and pulling with the other, each hand staying on its own side of the wheel and moving between 12-o'clock and either 4- or 8-o'clock. 2. The crossed-hand technique, in which no constraints are imposed on where the hands are to be placed on the wheel during straight-ahead steering, nor on passing either controlling hand through the 12-o'clock position. Three groups of eight male volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25 were tested: (a) those having a full driving licence (b) learner drivers (c) non-driver (Author/publisher) For the covering abstract see ITRD E116881.