Steering Techniques Part–1

The Origins of The Pull–Push Steering Method

Is it because of the association the Pull–Push style of steering has with learner drivers that makes people so immediately abandon it after passing the driving test? Why does that happen? Whatever the reason it seems that nearly everyone will readily drop the so called approved steering method very shortly after ripping off the L–plates.

Very soon after passing the driving test, even the best will be crossing their arms, steering one–handed, and indeed since mobile phones came into being, may be seen to steer with their knees! What is it that makes drivers think they can do better than the way they are taught?

One argument is that if the approved style was any good, people would continue to use it, and because driver’s abandon this so called orthodox method of steering so readily, then it obviously isn’t the best method to use.

However, there are many disciplines associated with all manner of activities that people will be involved with, and which require approved methods and procedures to be followed as examples of best practice. Yet in every such pursuit, rules will always be broken by those who think they know better, who can’t be bothered to follow them, or who have no sense of self–discipline.

This is a basic human response to a requirement to operate within boundaries. Whoever looks at the Highway after passing the driving test, for example? Preparing for the test will be the last time most will ever bother, and that could have been 50–years ago or more for many.

When being Lazy, Drivers Make Hard Work For Themsevles

Human beings are naturally idle creatures and will settle for any technique where the advantages can be promoted on the grounds of reduced effort. You only have to sit and observe drivers in car parks to see this happening. Here, nearly all drivers will insist on trying to get their vehicle into a parking bay nose first, instead of the far more effective way of reversing in.

If you were to ask any individual why they did it this way you would most likely be told it was the easiest method of doing it. Yes, the best method of doing something will not always seem to be the easiest, and that rings true in a number of different activities.

Another explanation as to why the Pull–Push steering method is so readily abandoned is that we live in a very image–obsessed world, and it is not perhaps seen as being cool to handle the steering wheel in the orthodox manner. The stars of film and television have partly put pay to that, as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would never have any credibility if they were to appear on screen shuffling the wheel of a car, as if they were a newly trained driver. No, the Pull–Push steering method is certainly not seen to be cool, that’s for sure.

However, we must all retain an open mind and accept that times change, and technology with it, and therefore a system of doing something that dates back to 1934 may not actually still be relevant in the world of today’s modern vehicles.

Where Pull–Push Steering Came From

In order to investigate a topic fairly and effectively it is necessary to look at all aspects and options, and particularly the background information, so as to gain a more complete understanding of the subject matter. With that in mind, let us look at where the Pull–Push steering originated from in the first place.

As the style is obviously a disciplined procedure the best starting point will be to look at driver training, because that will undoubtedly be where it has its roots.

The First Compulsory Driving Test

The first compulsory driving test for car drivers in the UK was introduced in June 1935, and applied to all drivers who applied for a driving licence on or after 1st April 1934. When the law was introduced, 246,000 people applied, from which the resulting pass rate was 63%.

Before this date, all you had to do to be able to drive was apply for a driving licence without having taken any lessons. Incidentally, France was the first country to introduce a driving test, this being in 1893, and so was well ahead of us.

The introduction of a legal requirement to take a driving test in the UK spawned the first appearance of commercial learner driving schools, but instructors were initially unregulated. So as to set a recognised level of competency for driving, the London Safety First Council, set up by the Government in 1916, was made responsible for overseeing the process.

This organisation was seen as the appropriate choice as it had already introduced a range of road safety initiatives in an effort to reduce the already poor road accident fatality rate. In 1941, the London Safety First Council changed its name to RoSPA and could well have been responsible for the introduction of the Pull–Push steering method – or was it that RoSPA was merely adopting an existing technique as used by someone else?

Too Many Road Collisions Involving Police Vehicles

Back in the 1930’s there were a great number of road collisions that involved police vehicles. In fact, during the first few months of 1934, it was recorded that road collisions involving metropolitan police vehicles occurred at a rate of 1 per 8,000 miles. The statistics had not escaped the notice of motoring press and the police service came under fierce attack for their poor road collision record.

So that police drivers could begin to gain respect, and set a high example on the road, the Metropolitan Police Driving School was opened at Hendon by Lord Trenchard in November 1934 with the first students course being run in January 1935.

Having decided that police drivers should set the example for all to aspire to, a great deal of research went into finding what would become the approved police system of driving, and which should be taught during police driver training courses.

The man whose task it was to come up with a driving system was Lord Cottenham, who years earlier had been a member of the Alvis and Sunbeam racing teams. It was at this time the Roadcraft manual was produced, and one of the techniques it promoted was the Pull–Push steering method. That technique is still the approved technique for police driver training today.

It would make sense to find that Pull–Push steering was brought in when the formal driver training was introduced, as there would need to have been a recognised method in which to operate the vehicle controls for driver competency testing. After all, you couldn’t very well test a method of doing something if there is no recognised method of doing it.

Cars Had Large Steering Wheels and Were Heavy to Control

Not just procedural, but the mechanical reason for the Pull–Push steering style was that cars back then were so heavy and had such huge steering wheels. No power assistance in those times. To steer a car effectively, the Pull–Push steering method would have no doubt become a necessity, as a high level of arm leverage would be required to control the car. That being the case, given that nearly all modern cars now have power assisted steering, there could be a well reasoned argument to say the old steering style is indeed outdated.

Many Old Car Driving Methods Seem to be Carved in Stone

It is astounding how some techniques associated with driving have remained stuck in a time warp, even though vehicle technology has moved on in leaps and bounds. Learner driving schools are only just breaking the mould of sequential gear changing, a system that was only initially brought into use because the vehicles of the day had such poor brakes. Back in the 1930’s drivers needed to change through every single ratio down the gearbox to help the brakes to slow the car down.

Look at braking systems now. They are light–years ahead of back then, but how long has it taken to get rid of that old method of assisting the brakes by using gears? The strange paradox here is that whilst we seem to be shrugging off that ancient method, carmakers are introducing paddle operated gear changers, which makes it difficult for a driver to skip any gears.

Getting back to steering, if you speak to the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), the body that controls the driver training industry, and you ask why the Pull–Push steering style is still promoted, you will find they can offer no good reason, other than it is the approved style, and it is the only steering method they recognise.

This suggests the only reason it still exists today is because those who promote it will continue to do so only on the grounds of what has always been done, will always be done. As far as the DSA are concerned, there seems to be no better reason than that. They can’t even say for sure where it came from.

Many drivers were never taught how to use the
pull push steering method correctly in the first place

Sometimes the argument put forward against the Pull–Push method is that of it being awkward, uncomfortable and difficult to use. It could be argued that in many of those cases that many who seek to rubbish it were not even taught how to do it correctly to begin with. Most novice drivers end up taking bites at the wheel that are far too small, so that will be awkward and uncomfortable for anyone.

Yes, the teachings say that neither hand should pass 6 or 12 o’clock, but you find many inexperienced drivers having their invisible boundary line on the wheel set between 8 and 10 on the one side, and 2 and 4 on the other. Trying to steer within such tight parameters will be a nightmare, and anyone could well be forgiven for ditching the method if that is how it has been presented to them.

A Poor Seat Position Can Contribute to Awkward Steering

At Ride Drive, when we show people the real way to do it, often they are amazed to find it is a different style to that taught to them at learner level. Not only that, we very seldom find that drivers know how to set their seat position, as a badly chosen driving position will make steering in the conventional way uncomfortable.

So, where are we within this comparison? The evidence so far suggests that the Pull–Push steering dates back to the 1930’s, and that it was introduced as an effective method of driving heavy old vehicles of the day with big non–power assisted steering. As such, it became the recognised method associated with effective car control for driver training and testing purposes, and is still promoted today on the grounds that it is the way in which steering should be used.

So, the question we ask, is it still effective, and it is still relevant? The answer to that will be found in Part–2.

Julian Smith
Ride Drive Limited

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Steering Techniques Part–One
Steering Techniques Part–Two

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Thursday, 27-Jan-2011

Steering Techniques Part–1