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[excelsior]

Get with the times: You're driving all wrong

By M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com



If you're a conscientious motorist who still does everything the way your driver's-ed instructor told you to, you're doing it all wrong.

For decades, the standard instruction was that drivers should hold the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions, as envisioned on a clock. This, it turns out, is no longer the case. In fact, driving that way could cost you your arms or hands in particularly gruesome ways if your airbag deploys.

Instead AAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and many driving instructors now say you should grip the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock. A few go even further, suggesting 8 and 4 to avoid the airbag mechanism as much as possible, but what formal research has been published on the varieties of hand positions suggests that this may lessen your control of the car.

(click link for complete story)
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10795756-get-with-the-times-youre-driving-all-wrong

[ShorTea]

I'm still 10 & 2, I wonder, does the air bag really do that much damage, or just flip your arms out of the way.

[BigRedDog]

I'm pretty big on defensive driving (due to the extremely high number of totally incompetent and distracted drivers currently on the road) and have followed this over the years.

When I took driver's training it was taught as 10 and 2...   

but that was when the only airbag in the car was...   

well, never mind

This is one of those topics that you can get a lot of different opinions on...

and we know what they say about opinions.

There are also a lot more variables today...

Tilt and telescoping steering...   

pedals that move back and forth...   

the weight of the driver...   

the length of the driver's arms...

in the event of a female (well, some males too) how much she has "stuffed" between the her rib cage and the steering wheel

Also still important for the driver to be properly wearing their seat belt

[BigRedDog]

I'm still 10 & 2, I wonder, does the air bag really do that much damage, or just flip your arms out of the way.

Again...   lots of variables ShorTea...   

How hard do you grip the wheel?

Vehicle age and make and model...   original or replacement air bags???

I think it's more important that you're comfortable and paying attention to your driving than it is exactly where your hands are...

I think there are a lot of other things to worry about than your air bag deploying.

In our family only our oldest daughter has had one deploy... 

I'll ask her if she remembers what happened to her arms.

She didn't break anything and walked away from the incident

[excelsior]

I'm still 10 & 2, I wonder, does the air bag really do that much damage, or just flip your arms out of the way.

These paragraphs are also from the article by M. Alex Johnson:

That means the higher up the wheel your hands are, the more likely they are to be directly over the plastic cover when it opens — that is, when superhot nitrogen gas flashes and inflates the bag at 150 to 250 mph.

Among the injuries the NHTSA reports from improper placement of the hands when an airbag deploys are amputations of fingers or entire hands, traumatic fractures and a particularly stomach-churning injury called "degloving," which — trust us — you definitely don't want to look up.

AAA says the bags can also slam your hands directly into your head, causing broken noses and concussions.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10795756-get-with-the-times-youre-driving-all-wrong

[blue2]

sometimes I'm a 9 and 3 but mostly I'm a right wrist over 12.

[ShorTea]

I think I'll start the 9 & 3 position in the morning. I can learn to love it, especially if amputations, etc. Are a possibility.

[Tiny]

What about the damage it will do to your face?

Your supposed to have 10 to 12 inches between you and the steering wheel. Women have a hard time achieving that distance. I saw a guy that looked like he went 10 rounds with Muhammad Ali after his air bag smacked him. Another guy had his head turned and blew his ear drum. Blood was running out of his ear and he couldn't hear out of it anymore. If you wear glasses you can expect them to be shoved into your eye sockets.

I thought about disconnecting mine and trusting the seat belts.

Russian Airbag Test