Kansas · Handbook chapter 4 · 4 min read

Adjusting your seat, head restraint and mirrors, wearing seat belts correctly, air bag safety, child seats, and the basics of starting, accelerating, stopping, steering methods and backing.

Why this chapter matters

A good driving position and the right steering grip give you control in an emergency and protect you from air bag injuries. These are easy points on the test if you know the numbers.

Seat and head restraint

• Your heel should rest on the floor while your foot pivots between brake and gas.
• The top of the steering wheel should be no higher than your shoulders, and there should be about 10 inches between your chest and the steering wheel.
• Set the head restraint so it touches the back of your head, not below the level of your ears. This helps prevent whiplash.

Mirrors

• Set the rearview mirror to frame the rear window.
• Traditional setting: sitting upright, set each side mirror to just show the side of your car. It may suit trucks, vans and SUVs when towing or backing in tight spaces.
• Enhanced setting: lean your head about five inches toward each side and set the mirror so the rear fender is just visible. You will not see your own car when sitting normally, but you gain 12 to 16 degrees of view on each side.

Seat belts

• It is illegal in Kansas to drive or ride in the front seat unbelted, and all occupants must be restrained.
• Wear the shoulder belt across your chest, never under the arm or behind your back. Keep the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
• Wear it every trip: more than half of injury and fatal crashes happen under 40 mph and within 25 miles of home.
• Belts keep you behind the wheel in a side hit or sharp turn, so you can keep control.

Air bags

• Air bags work with seat belts; they inflate only once and give no protection in a second collision, side hit, rear hit or rollover unless you have side air bags.
• Sit with at least 10 inches from the center of your chest to the middle of the steering wheel. Keep your hands on the outside of the wheel, never across it.
• Children 12 and under should ride in the back seat. Never put a rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag.

Child seats

• Birth to at least age 1 and 20 pounds: rear-facing infant seat in the back.
• Over 1 and at least 20 pounds: forward-facing child seat in the back.
• Ages 4 to 8 and under 4 feet 9 inches: booster seat in the back.
• After that, an adult belt in the back seat.

Starting and accelerating

• Make sure the parking brake is set before you start. Check the gauges, then turn on your low beams and lock the doors.
• Accelerate gradually. If the drive wheels spin, take your foot off the gas.

Steering

• Hold the wheel on the outside, firmly but gently, with your thumbs along the face of the wheel. Always turn the wheel the way you want the car to go, forward or in reverse.
• Hand-to-hand (push/pull) steering is the preferred method above 10 to 15 mph: left hand between 7 and 8 o'clock, right hand between 4 and 5 o'clock. Your arms never cross, which lowers injury risk from the air bag. The old 10 and 2 position is not recommended with air bags.
• Hand-over-hand steering is for low speeds, such as turning at an intersection or parking.
• Evasive steering: modern cars need only 45 to 90 degrees of steering to get back on the road after leaving it; never use more than 180 degrees when swerving, or you may lose traction and cross into oncoming traffic.
• One-hand steering is only for backing or reaching a control.

Backing

Back as little as possible. Check behind the car before you get in. Hold the wheel at 12 o'clock with your left hand, put your right arm over the seat and look directly through the rear window; mirrors do not show what is right behind you. Back slowly.