The Correct Way to Steer

NOTE: Ive updated this old article several times. Its due another update as a result of the new 2015
edition of Driving The Essential Skills having been published.
I originally wrote
about the subject in
2008/9 and most of
what you are
reading is the article
from around that
time. But the topic
does keep coming
back because it is
relevant to all
learner drivers. At
the time of the original article, the DVSA had updated its Internal Guidance Document (DT1) to say:
To ensure uniformity, when conducting car or vocational tests and ADI qualifying
examinations, only assess the candidates ability to control the vehicle and do not
consider it as a fault if, for example, they do not hold the steering wheel at ten
to two or quarter to three or if they cross their hands when turning the steering
wheel. The assessment should be based on whether the steering is smooth, safe and under
control.
The part in bold was a change/addition. In previous versions of the document it had said nothing at all
about the steering technique, and examiners round my way didnt fail people for crossing their
hands. All the DVSA was doing was making sure that none of its examiners made the mistake of
marking this as fault (hence the comment about [ensuring] uniformity. Reading between the lines, I
guess that there had been complaints about one or two examiners around the country faulting
candidates unnecessarily.
The thing is, as long as steering is under control it doesnt matter how a pupil does it. They can steer
with one hand, with their palm, use hand over hand it doesnt matter. And it has not mattered not
officially, anyway for a very long time. The change to DT1 was a clarification, not a major
change in policy.
You see, a lot of ADIs and PDIs get hung up on this crossing your hands business. The previous
version of Driving: The Essential Skills (TES) said:
Turning When turning the steering wheel, avoid crossing your hands. Except at low

speeds, this can reduce your control and can cause an accident. Feed the rim of the steering
wheel through your hands. Vary your hand movements according to the amount of lock you
want.
This is called the pull-push technique.
Notice the part about at low speeds. It advised you to avoid crossing your hands except at low
speeds. It didnt say that you must/must not do it.
There is a huge difference between whipping the steering round quickly as youre turning into a road at
20-30mph (almost on two wheels) compared with taking it at 5-10mph. Steering too quickly by
crossing your hands at higher speeds is likely to be a fault, whereas doing it at lower speeds keeps you
in total control. The only type of crossing hands that is definitely wrong in almost all circumstances
is the one where pupils grip the steering wheel tightly and turn from their shoulders, keeping their
hands in a fixed place on the steering wheel. This nearly always results in insufficient lock to get round
the corner, resulting in wide turns and possibly over-steering if the pupil suddenly changes their grip
to get the car round.
The last two versions of TES (most recently, 2015) have merely said:
You should
place your hands on the steering wheel in a position thats comfortable and which
gives you full control
keep your movements steady and smooth
turn the steering wheel to turn a corner at the correct time
Personally, I rue the loss of the previous advice because this latest approach amounts to dumbing down
and far too many people are ready to accept it as some sort of admission that the pull-push method
was bad, when it most definitely wasnt. The pull-push technique where steering is achieved by
alternately pulling the wheel down with one hand, then changing grip and pushing it with the other
certainly isnt the only way to steer, and people who can already drive shouldnt be forced to use it. But
for normal beginners who have not yet developed any suitable technique (or people who are simply a
danger on the roads doing it their own chavvy way) it should definitely be a starting point for them
because it requires coordination.
A good analogy would be with a professional footballer. He can play keepy up for hours on end
because it is an important basic control skill but you will rarely see him do it on the field. However,
the skills required to do it enable him to do other things during matches that he would otherwise
struggle with.
Its the same with steering. Being able to use pull-push properly is an important skill that drivers

should possess,
even if they end up
rarely using it in
favour of a chav
style.
Once beginners can
do pull-push they
can steer easily
without running out
of space on bends
and corners. They
are less likely to
over-steer into
kerbs, and more
confident and able to adjust their steering in a controlled manner. A major drawback to hand-overhand steering for beginners who know no other way is that they can easily panic and over steer.
I quite often get people who can already drive and who have developed their own chav-like habits
arm on the window sill, hand on the gear stick, seat almost in the lying down position, one-handed
steering, and so on. But I decide for myself whether any of these habits are genuine problems, and if
not I dont try to change them otherwise. None of those chavvy habits I mentioned is individually a
problem. But they can sometimes lead to situations which are problems. For example, occasionally
driving with one hand on the gear stick is not an issue. However, if it compromises the need for evasive
action, for example, then it could easily create a fail situation on test (and, obviously, be dangerous in
real life).
The new wording in TES could actually be taken as a mandate for teaching poor steering methods by
some instructors because its easier for them and easier their little darlings. You already get ADIs who
are under the mistaken impression that its coaching to let people develop bad habits in preference to
teaching them properly.
Incidentally, when someone pull-pushes the steering in one direction, the natural return action
frequently involves push-pull. Theyre not two separate methods like some people seem to believe.
Why shouldnt I turn (dry steer) the wheel when the car isnt moving?
Moving the wheel when the car is stationary is called dry steering. The examiners do not mark you on
it, so it doesnt matter if you do it or not during your test. However, it is bad practice for several
reasons:

it can damage your tyres

it can damage your steering mechanism
it can damage the road surface
Normally, your tyres are rolling as you turn the steering wheel. When you dry steer, they are scrunched
over whatever theyre sitting on top of. Gravel, glass, nails, all kinds of rubbish. Youll get some smart
arses telling you theyve never come across an example of dry steering causing damage (and other
smart arses telling you theyve never had a pupil who can only complete manoeuvres using it). But the
reality is that every time someone gets a puncture or has to replace a worn out tyre, dry steering will
have contributed to a greater or lesser extent because its part of wear and tear. The more you do it, the
greater the effect it will have on that wear and tear.
When you dry steer you can feel the extra resistance on the steering wheel (and even on newer cars
with advanced power steering, just because you cant feel it much doesnt mean the same stresses
arent being absorbed somewhere within the mechanical system). This resistance means additional
wear on the steering mechanism.
And apart from the wear on your car, in hot weather the twisting motion of stationary wheels is easily
capable of tearing up the top layer of softened tarmac.
Replacing burst tyres or fixing worn out steering is likely to cost you a lot of money.
Except in certain circumstances (i.e. pupils who have a genuine problem and Ive only come across
one or two out of the many hundreds Ive taught), dry steering as the default method is an excuse for
laziness and bad driving practices. Even if you decide to let someone get away with it on lessons, it will
still increase the wear and tear on whatever car they end up driving.
Dry steering is something that should be discouraged for most drivers, most of the time. It is bad
practice to use it unnecessarily, and anyone teaching it as standard is just cutting corners.
I find that many pupils cant control the car and steer at the same time, and they need to
dry-steer
Make sure youre not just looking for an easy way out. In the years I have been teaching I have really
only ever come across one or two pupils who simply couldnt control the car at low speed and steer at
the same time. In those cases, I let them dry-steer instead.
The vast majority of learners have initial problems with just about every aspect of driving, but that
doesnt mean they should be taught some dumbed down approach at the first opportunity.
Unfortunately, when pupils are taught to dry-steer, in the majority of cases that is exactly what is
happening the instructor sees an easy way out, and the pupil gets dumbed down advice.
Dry steering is something that should be discouraged for most drivers, most of the time. It is bad

practice to use it unnecessarily, and anyone teaching it as standard is just cutting corners.
Some people cant do manoeuvres without dry steering
Yes, I agree. But the number for whom it is a genuine problem is very small. The real problem is to do
with multi-tasking and the instructor not understanding what multi-tasking is.
The mistake many instructors make is that they expect the pupil to be able to do two or more things at
the same time. What they dont understand is that no one can actually do two things simultaneously.
The trick is to do them in a structured way possibly jumping from one to the other and back again
and then most problems disappear. This is why women can generally multitask better than men they
can happily jump from one task (or subject) to another and back again, whereas men generally like to
stick with one thing and finish it before moving to the next task. If they structure it properly, everyone
can create the illusion of multitasking.
Take the turn in the road as an example. If the pupil tries to get the car moving, control the speed,
steer, look around, etc. all at the same time its bound to end up going wrong if they dont have a
structured plan in their heads. What they need to do is itemise the procedure, so the first stage might
go:
find the bite
look around
release the handbrake
control the speed
get full lock on
control the speed again
look around
control the speed
watch the kerb
control the speed
stop
When carrying out this manoeuvre, many learners make the mistake of releasing the handbrake and
then trying to steer without controlling the speed first. You also usually find that their leg lifts on the
clutch pedal as they steer, the speed increases, then everything just falls completely apart. Thats
because theyre not concentrating either sub-task they cant: their brains can only focus on one at a
time, and trying to do two or more means that all of them are compromised.
But by jumping between tasks, each sub-task can be controlled or completed as necessary. In the case
of the cars speed, controlling it creates time to think and carry out the other sub-tasks.
Therefore, lack of understanding over multitasking is not an excuse to allow dry steering as a way

round the problems thus caused. Most people can easily steer while theyre moving if they structure
their actions. But most cant if they try everything all at the same time!
My instructor is teaching me to dry steer
As I said earlier, you wont fail for doing it on your test. However, it is bad practice to do it when you
dont need to.
If you were taught to dry steer from the start then I am sorry, but your instructor doesnt know how to
do their job properly and you should look for one who does.
I cant master pull-push steering
If you can steer safely and in control, it doesnt matter how you do it. Even using the palm of one hand
and driving like the chavs do is perfectly acceptable as long as youre in control.
However, if you are a beginner and you dont already have a suitable way of steering, pull-push is a
good technique to master. As I said above, just as playing keepy-up teaches important basic
footballing skills even if the actual routine is rarely used on the field, so being able to do pull-push
steering provides skills that you can adapt to your own style.
You can easily practice it at home using a book or dinner plate. And just like those Chinese puzzles I
mentioned in a follow-up article , once you get it you wont have any more problems.
If you want to steer left, move your left hand to the top of the wheel (or dinner plate), grip, and pull
the wheel down until your hand is at the bottom. Move your right hand to the bottom, grip, let go with
your left hand, then push the wheel/plate up. To continue steering, move your left hand to the top
again, change grip, and repeat although youll probably have full-lock on before you complete the
third movement.
To steer right, start by moving your right hand to the top of the wheel and pull down, etc.
Using pull-push means you always have more steering available to you. Using big turns is good for
getting full-lock quickly, but you can use small shuffles for more precise steering as needed.
Get the dinner plate out and make sure you can do it.
How do you teach a pupil to steer properly?
First of all, it isnt rocket science, so dont let your pupils think it is. Secondly, remember that as long as
they are in control it doesnt matter how they steer. Having said that, if they have not driven properly
before it is a good idea to teach them how to use the pull-push method first (and to avoid dry-steering),
and let them develop their own style from there. Pull-push requires fundamental skills that they can
use in their own style, and not teaching it is likely to create problems for them, even if it means the ADI

can avoid something they dont know how to teach properly.

Once they know the principle of steering, the next step is putting it into practice. For most new drivers
thats not a problem and just getting out on the road is enough for them to hone their skills. However, I
find that about 20% of new drivers need a bit of extra help with knowing how much to steer and when.
What I do is get them into an empty car park which is big enough to drive around in a figure of eight
pattern.
We start off by just doing the figure of eight, with me telling them when to get full lock on the steering
wheel. In fact, this is sometimes good even when initially briefing them on pull-push they can try it
out without having to worry about other road users, and it gives the instructor a chance to get them
into the habit early and crack the Chinese Puzzle I referred to above.
The next step is to add some accuracy and control. So I will tell them to aim for a certain door, lamp,
sign, or other feature as we drive in our figure of eight pattern. They quickly learn when to steer so as
not to overshoot and how much to steer to avoid having to correct themselves. It is important to get
them to turn their heads so they can anticipate the target and straighten up in time, rather than react
to it only when it appears directly in front of them.
With most people, 10 minutes of this sorts out any issues they may have had. A few need a bit more
practice, perhaps spread over several lessons.
How do I correct someones steering while theyre driving?
This is an actual search term used to find the blog,
It might be necessary for an instructor to position the car correctly for a learner simply by holding the
steering wheel and steering slightly from the passenger seat (I cant believe Im writing this: it should
be bloody obvious to anyone who has got past the Part 2 exam). The pupil can then zero in on their
position relative to the kerb or white lines and learn from that.
If an instructor needs to physically correct someones steering in other circumstances then its a case of
grabbing the wheel and doing it as much as necessary!
How many turns is full lock?
It varies from car to car. In my Ford Focus it is currently just over 1 turns either way, but in the
previous model it was just under 1 turns. One of my pupils has a car where it is nearly 2 whole turns.
How much do I need to steer?
Dont get bogged down counting quarters or halves of turns of the wheel (except perhaps during some
manoeuvres). Steer as much as you need to by watching where youre going and making the car go

there.
If you get muddled when it comes to straightening the wheels after having turned to full lock, it can
sometimes be useful to count your hand movements needed to get full lock in the first place, then
count the same number of hand movements back. Obviously this depends on having a reliable
technique it wont work if you use hand-over-hand one way, and tiny little shuffles going the other.
What are typical steering mistakes made by learners?
In my experience, the following are all high on the list:
looking at the steering wheel
looking too close to the front of the car
looking at the kerb
not looking ahead
being distracted by other things
gripping the wheel too tightly
not moving their hands when steering
steering too much or too quickly
steering too little or too slowly
The list is really endless, but not all learners make all these mistakes. Most pupils who have problems
tend to specialise in one particular fault.
Remember that it is important to identify the precise cause of the fault. Someone might not steer
enough going round a corner, but it could be simply that they were trying to change gear or cancel the
indicator. In some cases, though, question them and you may well find it was because they were
thinking about a mistake they made earlier. The trick is to dig the real fault out.