Rules of the Road: Keeping Your Hands At “10 And 2” Leads To Quicker Reactions

One of the oldest tips for driving is the idea of “10 and 2”, meaning your hands should be at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock on the steering wheel. Most people who have gone through any sort of driver education will have been taught this guideline, but then most of those people will eventually stop following it. As drivers, we tend to get casual when it comes to these guidelines and techniques but they’re taught to us for a reason. They work.

If everyone always kept their hands at these positions on the steering wheel, they’d be much more prepared for situations on the road, situations where a quick reaction is needed. What happens though, is that people get comfortable and start holding the wheel with one hand….or no hands at all. This means, when they need to react to something that’s occurring on the road, they’re not quite as ready as they should be.

Obviously, it’s possible to drive a lot of the time without your hands gripping the wheel at “10 and 2” but that’s exactly the point. No one is suggesting your hands should be glued to those spots on the steering wheel. But you should keep your hands in these positions as much as possible, even if you think it seems unnecessary. This is easier said than done now, as everyone is reaching for the stereo knobs, GPS devices, cell phones and more, but it’s these kinds of distractions that you should be avoiding as well as putting yourself in a position to react when others take their focus off the road.