Do you palm or grip?

Lately DS17 has started doing this palming thing, I tell him to grip the wheel but no he insists he has full control. Yesterday I thought I'd try and palm around the corner but I couldn't :redface: shhhhhhh don't tell DS. Maybe it's a male thing but tell me do you palm or grip?

Regards,
Dianne

What do you mean?

i do a bit of both. It depends on what I am doing at the time...

Tinks she means when your at the steering wheel turning around the corner you kinda just have your palm sliding around it. That doesnt make sense but I know what I am talking about Lol

I grip most of the time. My driving teacher always said not to cross your arms while turning the corner, but I don't like doing it like that, it feels bumpy and juddery.

I think it is kinda a guy thing like it looks cooler or something :rofl: having said that I do both on occasion! I would NEVER palm while cornering at high speed tho but its very useful when getting out of tight spots in a carpark or something. I often change the positioning of my hands on the wheel coz sometimes my arms get heavy in one position so I drop them down the bottom of the steering wheel. I do A LOT of driving and most of it is open highway in the country so its definitely different to when I'm driving in the city. I guess none of this really helps but I have noticed its a bit of a macho thing for some guys, he may grow out of it lol

Ohhh!! I do a bit of both, it depends.

That's it Cat, your palm is on the steering wheel without your fingers gripping it.

Regards,
Dianne

HomeStyleMumma that is DS to a T, chair right back, back rest right down and now palming. All in the name of driving cool :ROFL:.

Regards,
Dianne

I think you need to let your DS know that you don't mind that he does it on the straight, or at very low speed cornering, but not all the time. Not until he's more experienced. Chances are when he's been driving a few years & had some different experiences of different situations, he won't be so relaxed & easy going all the time. He'll choose to be more in control at times. But you don't want to risk it just yet when he is still inexperienced & not really sure just how unpredictable a car can be at times.

Saying that... I drive like a bloke :redface: One hand on the wheel, arm resting at the window :lol: One hand reversing, low speed cornering & out of town, but 2 hands cornering in town & on the edge of my seat in the city :lol: I don't do city driving well!

I do it quite a bit, but only in certain situations,usually in car parks etc. I'd be trying to get him out of the habit for now though - he's just not skilled enough as a driver yet to be doing it all the time. Palming at 100-110kms to go around bends is entirely different to palming to go around a street corner - its just not something you can do all the time.

Oooo that's making me think!
If I am driving straight I normally do that, or hold with a few fingers, but for turning corners I always grip-I feel I have more control that way

Yep I do it at times too....but technically it is totally unsafe. Especially when practised by someone who has been driving for five minutes and the only driver training they've had has been basic level.

It totally isn't cool to lose control in a corner and hit a pedestrian/another car/a tree etc.

Well if palming is when you use the base of your hand and fingers out and sort of circle the wheel below your hand - I do that when I am turning the wheel alot - so when doing a uturn, or after backing out. Not for corning though and mostly hold the wheel with my fingers.

ETA I don't know how anyone can drive with the back of the seat down, it's so uncomfortable and dangerous! I wouldn't allow that if he were driving with me.

I've been trying to get him into good habits right from the start but he keeps reverting to driving the "cool" way, so now he's having lessons. He's responding much better to his instructor, he thinks he's already a good driver and I'm the only one who can take him out but there were occasions where he didn't listen to me so this is a much better and safer way.

Regards,
Dianne

Diane, you have the power here - does he have a car of his own yet? If not, withhold if from him until he starts driving safer. I don't give a **** if driving a certain way looks 'cool' or not, he's got to learn that looking cool could end up making him dead. That's the reality. He's 17. He is not Mark Skaife.

He does have his own car but I've told him when his instructor tells me he is driving safely then I'll take him driving again.

Regards,
Dianne

Good plan, there is not way he would get away with it on a lesson/test.
and yup i have been known to do it on our property or an empty car park or something, but never turning, i have come round a corner to walkers/dogs.. even an emu to often.

DH does the palming thing - it drives me crazy. It's right up there with driving with your knees IMO.

He smasherooed our last car by losing control around a roundabout (he was going fairly slow but the roads were wet and slick after a dry spell) but I did wonder if he was palming at the time...

FWIW my dad is a rally car driver and I'm pretty sure none of those guys palm through their turns.

The only time I reckon I use my palm is when I'm backing out of a park. As others have said, it's a totally unsafe way to drive.

Dianne, are you able to send him to a defensive driving course? They can be expensive but so worth it - I believe everyone who learns to drive a car should take one of these courses. I went on one for work as there's a lot of travel involved in my job and it was amazing, every single one of us was doing things wrong.

With regards to driver 'position' though, we were taught to sit the way race drivers sit. They're we'll positioned in case of an accident and it's the safest way to be.
- You should grip the wheel with both hands at 9 & 3 (not 10 & 2). This is because your arms are less likely to get tired if you're not holding them up so high and your arms/hands don't block the view of any instruments.
- You should keep your hands in this position even while turning, it doesn't matter if they cross over. You'll rarely turn so far that you have to adjust position. This is because in an emergency you can easily get the wheel straight by getting your hands back to position.
- The seat should be far enough forward so that if you push your foot onto the brake as hard as possible your knee is slightly bent. You don't want your leg at full lock in a front on accident as it will shatter your knee.
- The seat should be upright with your arms bent - same as above. Also, if you lean back as far as some young guys do, you run the risk of sliding under the seatbelt in an accident.
- The headrest should be forward so that your head won't be thrown back a long way, and it should be high enough that the soft part actually cushions your head, rather than your head just hitting the top.

Maybe none of that is useful, but it may be worthwhile passing on how the professionals do it and why.

Grip with thumbs pointing up (driving instructors tip)

The palming scares me if I am honest. It only takes a little bit of sweat on your palms to make your hand slip.