9 Lies You've Been Taught About Driving

To say that technology moves fast is an egregious understatement – especially in the cable car world . Unless you ’re between the ages of 16 and 20 , probability are high thata lothas changed since you first learned to get , and the knowledge passed down from your parents and your parents ' parents is completely outdated now . I ’m not suppose everything you learned in driver ’s ed was full crap , but here are some pretty important misfire you should definitely block believe .

Always keep your hands at 10 and two

If I ’ve write it once , I ’ve write it a thousand – nay , a million time : do not keep your hands at 10 and two on your steering wheel . This dates back to an era when a ) airbags in the guidance wheel were n’t a affair , and b ) not all car had power steering . If you ’re in a car from the fifties with a steerage bicycle the sizing of an extra - large pizza , and driving makes you feel like the captain of an sea line drive , then by all agency , put your hand at 10 and two . Otherwise , you chance a very unpleasant - sounding trauma sometimes due to airbags calleddegloving . So get cozy with nine and three , and stay there .

Pump the brakes

When antilock Pteridium aquilinum first attain the prospect , they caused a lot of confusedness , and a scarily bombastic clump of that confusedness was give-up the ghost on from one coevals to the next . In the vast majority of situations , to bar in the fastest and safe manner possible , DO NOT PUMP YOUR BRAKES . You bed when you brake highly hard and you feel the pedal vibrate against your foot ? That ’s the system mechanically pumping the bracken for you , far quicker and far more expeditiously than any human could .

Wait a while for the engine to warm up

Your engine is lovesome enough to start motor in the vast bulk of cars , and in the vast majority of climates , within around 30 second ( basically , when your idle drops down to normal ) . That does NOT , however , mean you should just take off down the road , because the respite of your cars fluid ( in your transmission and differential , for example ) are still cold . For reasons relate to pollution controls , your locomotive engine let out less greenhouse gasses when both the engine and exhaust system part are hot .

TL / DR ? Start driving after 30 second unless you ’re in an absurdly cold climate . Just do n’t drivehardfor the first five to 10 Roman mile – but you’re able to fudge this a bit if you ’re somewhere hot as hell like Phoenix in August .

Push down on the accelerator while starting your car

A long , foresighted fourth dimension ago , there was something called a carburetor . Its job was to connect to your accelerator and control the amount of air and fuel that entered the engine . If your car was having a grueling clip starting , pushing your foot down would get a little more fuel into the combustion bedroom , where ( hopefully ) the spark plug did its magic trick and ignited the mixture , commence the railway locomotive .

A slightly less - long time ago but still pretty far back into yore , fuel - injectant systems took over that outgrowth . Today ? Both are outdated . On most car you do n’t even keep in line how long you crank the starter motor with a start button – the button itself initiates an entire episode of events , from squeeze out the right amount of fuel , to spinning the starter for the right length of time , to adding the right amount of twinkle . Problem solved – human input not involve .

A bigger car is safer than a smaller car

Welcome to the most controversial item on this listing . No one argues that the large fomite of old were rolling death cakehole compared to the average vehicle today – such is the rate of advancement within the manufacture . ( Just watch this video and be glad your grandparents live long enough to multiply . )

The debate arises when compare today ’s SUVs to today ’s passenger car . The laws of physics dictate the larger fomite with more heap will switch its trajectory less in a collision with a smaller , lighter fomite . That ’s an inherent advantage , but it hardly distinguish the whole story . Just last class , a study picture very compelling grounds that it ’s not the size of the fomite that matters , it ’s how expensive it is . Translation : you ’re paying for better engineering and more advanced safety technical school .

Shift in a straight line to select your gears

The PRNDL – the Park / Reverse / Neutral / Drive / Low formatting for your robotic transmission ’s gear selector – has been around for a half century . But from Mercedes to BMW to Chrysler and Fiat , manufacturers are moving away from the PRNDL because in an age where your transmission is controlled by computers , it ’s not necessary .

All-wheel drive is best for stopping on snow and ice

A shocking percentage of the universe give way to get the picture the fact thatall - wheel - thrust vehicles do not stop fasterthan their front- or rear - wheel - drive counterparts . The only place where all - wheel drive has an advantage ? Accelerating , where the extra assistance in getting started can give a simulated gumption of traction , leading some number one wood to hit the brakes expecting normality . If you ’re going down the highway and suddenly contact a temporary hookup of mordant ice , you ’re officially along for the drive regardless of how many wheels are push you forth . You wanna stop faster on the tricksy stuff?Get winter tires .

You can drive faster if you soup up your car

Does give money at your car make it more brawny or capable to handle corners better ? Well , yes . But if you do n’t know what you ’re doing and you beat out out on a super - fancy suspension full of complex phrases you do n’t actually realize –triple - adjustable coilovers with removed reservoirs are amazing!–you’ll face like an idiotand the handling will beworse . soup up your carcanmake it faster … but only after you’vemadeyourselffaster .

Brake when you cross railroad tracks and speed bumps

The possibility is simple enough – if you vaporize over a railroad track or speed bump at too high a f number , you ’ll upset the symmetricalness of your car and potentially crash . While slow down downbeforehandis never a bad idea , if you do soduringthe chance you ’re making matters worse . When you brake , the auto begin to nosedive , compressing the suspension so it ca n’t properly absorb the impact from the bump . Brake first , then ease off the pedal before you get there . Your ride will be smoother , and you ’ll have better control .

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Aaron Milleris theCarseditor for Thrillist , and can befound on Twitter . He used to do a few of these , a long , farsighted time ago .

10 & 2 steering wheel hand position