How To Drive A Motorcar
A Key To The Subtleties Of Motoring

HOW TO DRIVE A MOTORCAR movement should be in the opposite direction then the left hand is called into play. The grip in this case is a little lighter than in the other types previously referred to. With regard to the sudden tightening of the grip, if a bad road obstruction is met with and the steering wheel needs strong checking, then the increased ten- sion is found to be quite automatic and instinctive, as the steering arm on the side in question, is thrust more firmly against the fingers, which automatically in the act of restraining a forward movement also increase the grip. Whilst bearing in mind that this grip is not advo- cated for traffic driving, it will be found a very restful change for ordinary touring work in the country. Yet a fourth method of holding the wheel, which can also be used as a change, is that in which the first finger and thumb grip the steering arm from above, whilst the rim of the wheel is between the first and second fingers. This grip again is similar to the last-described one, and is more what one may term a cheeking grip than an actual steering grip, and is not recommended for town use but only for country use, where the road is fairly open and no sudden maximum movement of the wheel is at all likely to be requir&d. Both hands may be used simultaneously, or if the driver does not find that he can conveniently train himself habitually to use both hands for steering, then for open country work it may even be safe to use the one hand. Perhaps, however, one ought to add even another qualification to this type of grip : it should not be used either for high-speed work or on rough roads. The reason why both these latter grips are only advocated for resting purposes, and for what the writer terms check steering, is that there is only direct power over a very small arc of the steering wheel’s travel. Obviously, when one has made a little .more than an eighth of a revolution of the wheel in either direction further movement has to a large extent to be. caused by lateral pressure from the arm which is nothing like so powerful as the direct pull or push. 54