Chris Gilbert response to J. Whitmore article - Pull Push

[Darren]

Original Thread by Sir John Whitmore on "is the driving test out of date".
http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2799

Which references Sir John's article in The Telegraph at http://tinyurl.com/yehg64k

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Pull Push Steering IS the best and safest way
Chris Gilbert

For more than 21 years I have sat back, kept silent, and have not bothered to comment on Sir John Whitmore’s views on steering. However, I have recently been inundated with messages from ADIs and members of the IAM and RoSPA asking me to write a response to Sir John’s recent articles. I have therefore come to the conclusion that it is time to speak out and redress the balance on steering methods. In addition, I have become increasingly concerned that drivers and ADIs may have been unsettled of late about their steering technique. Some may have adopted hand over hand steering rather than continue with the trusted pull-push method. This in my view would be a very dangerous step to take, given all the evidence I am about to present to you.

My advice to all drivers and DSA Approved Driving Instructors is under no circumstances venture away from pull-push steering no matter how compelling the argument may seem to be. Pull-push is the safest and best way to turn a motor vehicle steering wheel. My view is based upon my vast, wide ranging experience in the field of driver training covering some 40 years and a million plus instructional miles on the public highway.

The Evidence
Putting my opinion aside for one moment, I want to deal with proved and undeniable facts. I will provide the evidence and refer you to websites where you can find for yourself the facts, enabling you to form your own opinion. I will also include a quote with the name of the officer who made it.

I will set out the facts on three fronts:

(a) Steering related - air bag deployment injuries

(b) My experience of using pull-push steering,

(c) Shuffle steering in the United States of America.

Air bag deployment
Sir John says that in an emergency drivers will always cross their hands because it is the quickest way to steer. That is not true. Drivers who use pull push will continue to use their natural steering technique and will have no need to change in an emergency. I will come back to that later but the evidence I have uncovered found that many air bag injuries occurred in non emergency situations at speeds as low as 5 mph.

On many of the latest motor cars, mine included, the air bag will deploy even when the vehicle is stationary, such as with a side impact or when another driver reverses into the front of the car.

Air bag injuries to which I refer can be serious hand and arm injuries. These include fractured wrists, fingers, thumbs, arms and elbows; some of these have been compound fractures, in some cases, resulting in amputation. It will be seen that the evidence points to drivers using hand over hand steering or incorrect steering grip.

One example was an American lady who had her thumb almost torn off as a result of her air bag deploying as she was manoeuvring at 5 mph. She misjudged her turn into her driveway, her car bumper hit a wooden post and the air bag deployed injuring her thumb.

American research and case history
In the United States of America air bags have been in use far longer than in the UK. It is there that most of the research has been conducted and much evidence has been gathered by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). There I found disturbing evidence, some very surprising.

Please have a look at the following sites, remembering to underscore the spaces.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings ... r.n21.html
http://www.airbagonoff.com/new_page_17.htm
http://www.airbagonoff.com/dr_smock’s_research.htm

There is a great deal of evidence on websites involving low speed air bag deployment where in our terms the driver has not been steering correctly or had their fingers/hands over the air bag module cover. The details are extensive and will take much time to digest.

Air Bag Module Cover
So, how have these injuries come about and can they be avoided? The answer is quite simply ‘Yes, they can be avoided by the driver steering correctly’. Correctly means pull-push or shuffle steering as the Americans call it. It appears that most American drivers, other than police drivers, cross their hands when steering. Problems arise when drivers have their hands or arms over the Airbag Module Cover, situated in the centre of the steering wheel, when the airbag deploys. The driver’s hands and arms are thrust upwards by the force of the air bag and impacting into the driver’s approaching face. This can cause dreadful injuries. These injuries are exacerbated by the wearing of a watch, ring or bracelet as they tear into the driver’s face. When the air bag deploys, it does so at around 210 mph with a force of around 1200lbs. UK and European air bags deploy with less force, nevertheless, they can still cause serious injuries as described.

Correct grip and steering action
If the driver is holding the steering wheel correctly and not crossing hands (hand over hand steering), the air bag will deploy safely between the driver’s arms causing none of the injuries described previously. If ever there was a case for not crossing hands or steering hand over hand, then this must be it.

Quarter to three, not ten to two.
The American driving experts are advising drivers to hold the steering wheel lower at quarter to three so that the arms are well away from the airbag module cover in the event of its deployment. They recommend steering action by sliding the hands up and down each side of the steering wheel, each hand mirroring the other, neither hand passing the 12 or 6 o’clock positions. In other words they advocate pull-push or shuffle steering, not hand over hand. This equally applies to slow speed manoeuvres, such as parking, for reasons made all too clear by the lady and her thumb. Personally, I prefer the term ‘pull-push’ as ‘shuffle steering’ conjures thoughts of small bites of hand movement and lots of shuffling. That of course is not the case.

A very interesting site is: http://www.emsresponder.com/article/article.jsp?id=4390 ‘Driver Airbag Hand Injuries; 10 and 2 is Not the Rule’. Here, you will find sound advice about steering grip and shuffle steering. Looking back to your driver education, consider the following questions:

· Did the instructor teach you to hold the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions?

· Were you taught to use hand over hand steering?

· Do you steer your vehicle with one hand on top of the wheel?

I believe the questions are thought provoking.

Hypothetically, if a driver had been taught hand over hand steering or an incorrect steering hold, would this make the instructor culpable in the event of that driver sustaining a serious injury following air bag deployment?

I am certain, given the American culture for suing, this would be the case. I just wonder - could that ever happen here in the UK?

To conclude airbag injuries
In their report on airbag injuries the NHTSA state and I quote: ‘Passengers and drivers are safer with an airbag than without. Nevertheless, the current number of deaths and serious injuries attributed to air bag deployment in low speed crashes is disturbing. A large number of arm injuries have been attributed to air bag deployment, both in low and high speed crashes’. You will find that report on the NHTSA site.

It is my opinion that steering hand position and crossing arms over the Air Bag Module Cover are the cause of the vast majority, if not all, of the arm and hand injuries during airbag deployment in the United States. There is no doubt many such incidents occur here in the UK.

Back to Sir John’s comment that in an emergency a driver will cross their hands to steer quickly. That may be true of the reactionary drivers driving with their eyes on ‘dipped’ rather than ‘main beam’. They suffer with the ‘suddenly’ syndrome when many things become urgent and they may very well find they have to steer quickly. The secret of good driving is driving with a high visual horizon, incorporating good vision scans, positioning correctly and thereby adjusting road speed so a situation, even a hint of one, does not develop into a full blown emergency. The best drivers seldom, if ever, have an emergency to deal with. These are the fundamentals upon which Roadcraft was conceived. Now we must realise how dangerous it is to cross hands on the steering wheel, above all in the event of an emergency. You do not need to cross your hands to steer quickly. Pull-push will always deal with emergencies and has the added advantage of allowing the driver to easily reverse the steering direction without getting the arms tangled up.

My experience
I taught hundreds of learner drivers between 1964 and 1972 and, whilst serving as a police sergeant, class 1 staff instructor, at the Metropolitan Police Motor Driving School Hendon I taught 999 driving, LGV, PCV, skid pan and high performance advanced pursuit driving. In 1991 I became a DSA PCV/LGV Delegated Driving Examiner and as an ADI I have never held a grade lower than 6. I feel my experience of training to the very highest level on the public highway is far more relevant experience to judge steering method than Sir John’s experience on a race track in the 1960s. They say ‘Experience Teaches’, how true.

A million plus instructional miles
During my twenty two years at Hendon I travelled over a million instructional miles, all over the country, by day and night, in all weather conditions; driving and instructing in a selection of motor cars from V8 Rovers to the BMW M3. Under an Act of Parliament I have driven and trained at speeds of more than twice the National Speed Limit. The public road environment is far more hazardous than driving around a track where marshals are employed track side to wave yellow flags in the event of impending danger. Yet during that time I never had a collision, never caused one, never left the road, never had a lock up or even activated the ABS. I repeat; a million miles of safe, collision free driving, much of it well above the National Speed Limit. I owe that achievement to Roadcraft and the pull-push method of steering.

DSA – Roadcraft
The DSA driving technique is not that dissimilar to Roadcraft driving at speeds up to 70 mph. Unless a commentary is being given, and then the wording would give it away, a DSA Examiner would find it very difficult to distinguish between DSA or Roadcraft driving.

Pull Push – accurate and very safe
During all my instructional life I have never found pull-push steering wanting in any way whatsoever, both on the public highway or on the skid pan. Sir John has said pull-push is potentially dangerous. Given the working environment that the emergency workers in particular endure, there is no evidence to suggest this is the case.

Hair raising moments
My steering experiences during 22 years of employment at Hendon are opposed to Sir John’s view. I admit I did have a number of hair raising experiences travelling at high speed on slippery roads but only when a student deviated from the pull- push method. This often unsettled the balance of the car causing the student to stiffen, grip the wheel tighter and make the situation worse. I found pull-push to be far more accurate and a smoother action than hand over hand steering. It is often said ‘if it looks right, it is right’. Pull-push looks right. Hand over hand looks very awkward and clumsy.

Sir John’s opportunity
In 1989-93 I was a member of the Home Office Working Party investigating driving techniques for possible changes to and inclusion into Roadcraft. We opened ourselves up to change and invited all driving experts to have their input. To give an example: Mr K Bamford, a Physics Schoolmaster from a Yorkshire Grammar School wrote in and told us there was no such thing as centrifugal force acting upon a car in a bend. We bowed to his better knowledge and changed Roadcraft. We invited Sir John Whitmore to Hendon to discuss his views on steering. We gave him the opportunity to convince us hand over hand was better than pull-push. We were open to suggestions, looking to make positive change where necessary, particularly if Sir John’s theories were proved correct.

I spent the day with Sir John along with Mr Colin Urqhart the Chief Civilian Instructor at the time. We spent most of the morning discussing Roadcraft and steering. We then gave Sir John the opportunity to demonstrate his steering technique on the skid pan. All I am prepared to say, to avoid embarrassing him, Sir John was unable to display his preferred method of steering to any advantage. The skid pan instructor using pull-push had far better control than Sir John. At the start of the day we were open to suggestion, by its end we were left unimpressed, in no way convinced, that hand over hand steering was better or the equal of pull-push. Sir John stated he had no issues with Roadcraft, other than those around steering concepts. His demonstration had served only to cause us to agree to differ.

Police shuffle steering in the United States
In 1986 I visited the Los Angeles Police Driver Training Facility, then situated at Pomona, California, to compare police driver training methods. There, I met Sergeant William Smith Jr. Bill told me that due to a high number of police collisions, attributed to hand over hand steering, The LAPD had, in 1970, implemented a change of steering method to what he called shuffle steering. It soon became apparent to me that shuffle steering was their name for our pull-push. This change of steering had reduced the number collisions significantly and as a result shuffle steering was implemented throughout California, including The Sheriff’s Dept, Highway Patrol and State Troopers.

Bill has now retired from the LAPD and he now works for a company who trains police officers in pursuit driving on a simulator. Bill writes pursuit scenarios and also travels throughout the whole of the U.S. training police drivers. I decided to contact Bill to ask him what was happening now in the US with regards to pull-push or shuffle steering. Here is his reply.

‘The LAPD was teaching shuffle steering when I took over the Unit in 1971. All academies in California (38+) teach shuffle steering. In my travels throughout the USA I find all police departments indicate they teach a shuffle or pull push as you call it. It is almost nationwide. We now realise how dangerous it is to cross hands on the steering wheel, even in an emergency’.

The LAPD now have their driver training centre based at The Edward M. Davis Tactical Training Center, Granada Hills, California. I telephoned them a few days ago and spoke with Sergeant Christina I. Korne of the Emergency Vehicle Operations Training Division. She said. ‘As with the remainder of the US we teach shuffle steering, this for us is mandatory. An officer is not given a choice of steering method’.

Jeff Eggleston a Law Enforcement Training Officer of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy said. ‘We are huge proponents of shuffle steering. We are dedicated to change concepts of hand over hand steering by officers in Ohio and our students from around the U.S. Shuffle steering is smoother and more accurate, particularly at speed’.

U.S. National Curriculum for Driving
The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have written a Police Driver Training Manual. It is a suggested curriculum for all police driver training facilities in the United States of America. A core requirement is ‘shuffle steering’.

If you visit http://www.policeone.com you will enter a web site run by Capt. Travis Yates of the Tulsa Police Department. Next enter ‘shuffle steering’ in the search box. This will bring up three links. Look at Driving in Ohio: It’s worth the ride. After reading through the interesting text, which includes mention of shuffle steering and the IADLEST Manual, you will find ‘Watch Video: Ohio Track. There you will see officers being trained to use shuffle steering. I do not have the room here to mention all the US police departments who use shuffle steering.

Conclusions

· Pull-push steering is the best and safest method of steering, even more so today, given the risk of serious injury when an air bag deploys.

· Could an ADI or police driving instructor be held culpable for teaching hand-over hand steering or incorrect steering grip after a resulting air bag injury?

· In my 40 years experience covering over a million instructional miles of true high performance driving I have never found pull-push steering wanting or defective in any way whatsoever.

· It is very interesting to note that we, in the UK, have been teaching pull-push steering since 1934 without a hint of a problem, when all the time the Americans have been using hand over hand or rotational steering, and been experiencing serious safety issues. To that end, since 1970, U.S. Police Driver Training Facilities have been teaching ‘shuffle steering’, which is identical to our ‘pull-push’, and as Jeff Eggleston of Ohio Police said, ‘We are huge proponents of shuffle steering and dedicated to change concepts of hand over hand steering’.

I now leave the matter there and leave it to the reader to make his or her mind up on the evidence I have provided.

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Chris stated in his email that he will not be logging on to engage in further comment.

[vonhosen]

Pull Push Steering IS the best and safest way
Chris Gilbert


I now leave the matter there and leave it to the reader to make his or her mind up on the evidence I have provided.

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Chris stated in his email that he will not be logging on to engage in further comment.

I wouldn't make my mind up based on a single post, but I do know where I currently stand on the topic & I'm not standing in the same place as Chris.

[Darren]

This could be an interesting thread. Will modify the main post to reference John Whitmore's article and add a poll, i.e. do you agree with Chris or John

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

The difficulty with this is the two gentlemen represent rather the extremes of opinion on this subject. Sir John wastes no opportunity to attack the Police, IAM and RoADAR methods of teaching, and to press for deregulation in such matters as braking in bends etc. which to Chris Gilbert must represent something akin to anarchy.

I imagine most of us on this forum are somewhere in between. If we've been coached by any organisation using Roadcraft we will be using at least some of the principles therein, and yet we may not be fanatical pull-pushers. As with most things, it's a buffet, you take a little of everything you fancy.

[fungus]

I think Mr Cholmondeley-Warner probably sums up the position of most on this forum.

I personaly use pull push most of the time, but in certain circumstances I place a hand beyond 12-o-clock, eg. when emerging from a side road into a major road where I can complete the steering with a 270 degree pull, (the technique advocated by Astraist). I use this technique also when manoeuvring, eg. three point turn, as it makes use of more of the wheel and you can turn the wheel quickly. I teach this method to learners when they are doing three point turns, sorry, turn in the road. I use fixed input with the hands positioned at quarter to three for shallower bends where the hand does not go beyond 12-o clock.

[jcochrane]

For me John Whitmore's arguments against pull push steering are flawed. Having, many years ago, seen him demonstrate what he claimed to be pull push steering at Cadwell Park there was little resemblance in his demonstration to pull push steering when done correctly. His demonstration only showed he had no idea how to do it properly. On what I saw it amazes me he has spent so many years fiercely criticising a steering system he does not seem to understand or have mastered.

My thoughts are similar to Mr C-W "As with most things, it's a buffet, you take a little of everything you fancy." I do think though that push pull, when done properly, can be a sound base for developing and incorporating other systems. Not absolutely necessary but a good foundation.

[firstmk1]

Can we have a third poll option of 'It depends'?

[vonhosen]

For me John Whitmore's arguments against pull push steering are flawed. Having, many years ago, seen him demonstrate what he claimed to be pull push steering at Cadwell Park there was little resemblance in his demonstration to pull push steering when done correctly. His demonstration only showed he had no idea how to do it properly. On what I saw it amazes me he has spent so many years fiercely criticising a steering system he does not seem to understand or have mastered.

My thoughts are similar to Mr C-W "As with most things, it's a buffet, you take a little of everything you fancy." I do think though that push pull, when done properly, can be a sound base for developing and incorporating other systems. Not absolutely necessary but a good foundation.

You'd expect him to try do something really well he was trying to undermine ?
I wouldn't expect Chris to make a good fist at fixed input or rotational steering either given his input.

I don't think JW has it in for Pull/push per se. It's that he doesn't agree that it should be the de facto standard & that forcing people to do it is damaging to the learning process. I get the impression he is for natural steering & if people struggle with steering in any particular aspect of their driving, then let them choose a way to tweek their steering technique in order to overcome their difficulties in that particular area. I also think it's his belief that left to their own devices (ie what would come naturally without outside influence) that nobody would choose to pull push in the fashion espoused in roadcraft.

[martine]

As with most things, it's a buffet, you take a little of everything you fancy.

Or in my case given access to a buffet I'll take a lot (too much) of everything I fancy...especially sausage rolls

I'm another that would vote for:

***'mainly pull/push with occasional rotational (slow speed maneouvres) and hand over 12 'o'clock for a large chunk of steering...sometimes'

...but that's probably a bit long for a poll question!

[jcochrane]

For me John Whitmore's arguments against pull push steering are flawed. Having, many years ago, seen him demonstrate what he claimed to be pull push steering at Cadwell Park there was little resemblance in his demonstration to pull push steering when done correctly. His demonstration only showed he had no idea how to do it properly. On what I saw it amazes me he has spent so many years fiercely criticising a steering system he does not seem to understand or have mastered.

My thoughts are similar to Mr C-W "As with most things, it's a buffet, you take a little of everything you fancy." I do think though that push pull, when done properly, can be a sound base for developing and incorporating other systems. Not absolutely necessary but a good foundation.

You'd expect him to try do something really well he was trying to undermine ?
I wouldn't expect Chris to make a good fist at fixed input or rotational steering either given his input.

I don't think JW has it in for Pull/push per se. It's that he doesn't agree that it should be the de facto standard & that forcing people to do it is damaging to the learning process. I get the impression he is for natural steering & if people struggle with steering in any particular aspect of their driving, then let them choose a way to tweek their steering technique in order to overcome their difficulties in that particular area. I also think it's his belief that left to their own devices (ie what would come naturally without outside influence) that nobody would choose to pull push in the fashion espoused in roadcraft.

Von, the steering system I saw John demonstrate looked bizarre, involving many very small, quick jerky movements of the hands to achieve little steering input. He ably demonstrated it was inefficient and non conducive to precise and smooth steering. I just wished he'd call it by another name and not pull push.

[vonhosen]

For me John Whitmore's arguments against pull push steering are flawed. Having, many years ago, seen him demonstrate what he claimed to be pull push steering at Cadwell Park there was little resemblance in his demonstration to pull push steering when done correctly. His demonstration only showed he had no idea how to do it properly. On what I saw it amazes me he has spent so many years fiercely criticising a steering system he does not seem to understand or have mastered.

My thoughts are similar to Mr C-W "As with most things, it's a buffet, you take a little of everything you fancy." I do think though that push pull, when done properly, can be a sound base for developing and incorporating other systems. Not absolutely necessary but a good foundation.

You'd expect him to try do something really well he was trying to undermine ?
I wouldn't expect Chris to make a good fist at fixed input or rotational steering either given his input.

I don't think JW has it in for Pull/push per se. It's that he doesn't agree that it should be the de facto standard & that forcing people to do it is damaging to the learning process. I get the impression he is for natural steering & if people struggle with steering in any particular aspect of their driving, then let them choose a way to tweek their steering technique in order to overcome their difficulties in that particular area. I also think it's his belief that left to their own devices (ie what would come naturally without outside influence) that nobody would choose to pull push in the fashion espoused in roadcraft.

Von, the steering system I saw John demonstrate looked bizarre, involving many very small, quick jerky movements of the hands to achieve little steering input. He ably demonstrated it was inefficient and non conducive to precise and smooth steering. I just wish he'd call it by another name and not pull push.

But would you expect him to try & make it work given his position on it ?

[jcochrane]

But would you expect him to try & make it work given his position on it ?

Probably not but it was a misrepresentation of push pull steering.

[vonhosen]

But would you expect him to try & make it work given his position on it ?

Probably not but it was a misrepresentation of push pull steering.

What about the other points I spoke about ?

[jcochrane]

But would you expect him to try & make it work given his position on it ?

Probably not but it was a misrepresentation of push pull steering.

What about the other points I spoke about ?

Would that be the second paragraph of your post at 11:30? You must forgive me for my confusion, been up since 04:00 yesterday and my little brain is weary.

[vonhosen]

Would that be the second paragraph of your post at 11:30? You must forgive me for my confusion, been up since 04:00 yesterday and my little brain is weary.

I wouldn't expect Chris to make a good fist at fixed input or rotational steering either given his input.

I don't think JW has it in for Pull/push per se. It's that he doesn't agree that it should be the de facto standard & that forcing people to do it is damaging to the learning process. I get the impression he is for natural steering & if people struggle with steering in any particular aspect of their driving, then let them choose a way to tweek their steering technique in order to overcome their difficulties in that particular area. I also think it's his belief that left to their own devices (ie what would come naturally without outside influence) that nobody would choose to pull push in the fashion espoused in roadcraft.