how do you guys drive?

i was driving around with my cousin, and he stated that i have a odd way of holding the wheel.

my right hand is at 1 and my left hand is at 7.
i anchor-wedge my left hand to my left thigh.

it seems to help greatly in stabilizing the wheel, and gives me full confidence when i am driving at high speeds.

my cousin drives with his hand at 2 and 9.
i tried driving like that but my confidence level at high speeds (especially when it is windy-SUV driver) is very low; the wheel jerks too much.

i've noticed since then that many other people drive the way he does (hands not anchored).
how do you drive?


also, everyone i have seen driving were using automatic transmissions; including myself.

I'm a risk taker, I keep both hands at 7. I can make lightning fast right turns, but if I need to take a left, I'm dead.

I really haven't noticed how I drive..... I think in an auto, I tend just to use my right hand @ 1 or so, and in a stick, left @ about 11. USUALLY.

Usually my left hand on 11 or 12 and my right arm leaning on the arm rest.

Many driving schools will tell you 9 and 3, for maximum leverage, but as I've found in teaching performance driving, 7-8 and 4-5 is better for leverage and fast turns. The exact placement will depend on the car. Italian cars like to be closer to the bottom of the wheel, and German/Japanese cars tend to do better a little farther from the bottom.

i usually put my left hand at 11.5 o'clock and my right hand in my lap, otherwise my right hand is at 5, and left is out the window. try it, its fun!

It depends how lazy I am

Regular driving 10 and 3.5
Lazy 11.5
extremely lazy - 2 fingers at 7

some days when im drunk enough.. no hands

but usually gangsta one hand :P jk

right hand on shifter
left hand on 12

or right on 2
and left on window

right hand at 6 - left out the window :)

I gotta get that window fixed in my car. Usually right hand between 12-3, left hand at 9 except if I'm bored or down, then I rest my head on my left hand...

If your car has air bags, you shouldn't be holding the wheel any higher than 9-3. If you get into an accident that deplys the air bags and have your hands above 9-3, you tend to end up with either dislocated shoulders and/or a broken nose from punching yourself in the face.

9-3 is the best, followed by 10-4, depending on where exactly the spokes on the steering wheel are.

Usually 9-10 and 2-3...

I rest my left arm on the door rest and drive at 9 most of the time.

I wonder about that air bag thing. They try to teach you to drive with hands at 10 and 2. I kinda tend to rest a hand on the "spokes" but I have tried to retrain myself since getting cars with airbags. I try to at least keep my hands away from the center of the wheel. Usually, ita about left on 12, right on the armrest, or if I'm tired, fingers on the spokes at 9 and 3.

They say with the airbag to drive at 9 and 3.

usually with one hand at 7 if im just cruising. but for twisties i usually do 8 and 4
.

when i had my saturn (stick) i usually kept both hands at around 10 and 2 or left hand at 12-1 and the right on the stick. now that i drive a nice SUV with leather seats and the sub box sound better in this thing, i drive with my right hand on 12-1 and the left hand out the window. once i hit 50 and up, back to 10 and 2 again.

10 & 2 all the way unless I'm going racer on your ass then it's one at 12 other on the shifter...

Since I know for a fact the airbags won't deploy (a Taurus hit the brakes and cut me off and I was doing 78 in the middle lane and he was doing what and decelerating from the left lane to the center) and after hitting the contrete barrier on I-85S, the airbags still didn't deploy...I'm still a little bitter 2yrs later on that one! (He told the officer I made him made when I tapped my brakes to get him to get some distance between us).

So I drive @ 10-11 all the time. Right hand on shifter even though it's a slushbox. Heavy rain and with, 10&2. I NEVER put my hands on top or outside of the wheel. It makes the body "balance" itself on the wheel and "steer" the car. I took some advanced driving courses years ago and both schools stressed hand infront (not on top) of the wheel and always point the nose and never try to turn the car. Sorry if I'm long winded.

Most times - Left at 10, elbow on window ledge; Right on shifter

Sometimes - Left at 9, elbow on armrest; Right on shifter

Other times - Left on food; Right on drink; Knees on wheel

Where's my spinner knob?

Where's my spinner knob? Haha suicide knob :D

depands what car
auto/manual
steering
whether i can rest my arm on a door handle or the window ledge...

how long i've been driving...
arms get tired after 5 or 6 hours so you tend to rest them when you can

what sort of road.
straight roads don't require much steering..
thrashing through windy stuff i'd usually have a really good grip with both hands on my momo except for changing gears....

I pretty much never have right hand on the wheel exept when driving past 85MPH. Left hand is always either at 9 or 12.

Here goes...
In order of frequency...

1. Left at 12. Right on shifter
2. Left elbow on window, with left hand at 9. Right on shifter.
3. Left at 7. Right on shifter.
4. Left on phone. Right at 2/3 and on the stick.

1 hand on the bottom of the wheel usually

...usually my hands just wander around. Much of the time one hand at 12, but sometimes two hands at 10 and 2.

Low/slow as usual, sunk in my seat. :)

my right hand is at about 4 or 5 and my left hand is on the shifter (RHD)

I use my cruise a lot so I'm a little relaxed. I usually keep my left hand at 7 or 8 o'clock with the cruise on and that's it. I sometimes get stares from other drivers as it appears I am driving with no hands. i remember about 20 or so years ago when I took the defensive driving course, the instructors always said to put your hands at 10 and 2. Over the years,(I take the course every 3 years for the insurance discount,) they have modified what they say and now say to place your hands anywhere from 8 to 10 and 2 to 4. I wonder if that recommendation has to do with the airbags or some government study.I get a chuckle when I see drivers, (mostly middle aged women,) drive with what looks like a death grip on the wheel at 10 and 2 and a serious look on their faces. What's up with that:dunno:?

they are bad drivers and thats what they have been told to do.thats how my sister drives.

umm in my F250 when it has the car trailer 10 and 3 but more often then not its just one hand at somewhere between 10 and 3.
In my ranger left hand 10-12 right hand on the shifter
My stock car cant tell really I have to pitch the car sideways but guessing something like 9 and 3

..."Like an ass-hole"
A quote from a cop after pulling me over, no ticket.

the fast and the furious.

road rage kills, but twice a day is good for the heart :)

Usually left at 8, right at 4 (I still remember my driving instructor scolded me for that :p )
Sometimes left at 9 or 10 and right on my lap (or teh stick very rarely)

Right hand on the gears, and (when i'm not changing gears) at 3 and left hand at 9. On highways (at a speed not too high, at arroud 90 or 100mph/150, 160kmh), no necessary to hold too much the wheel, the cars goes straight.