Teach yourself to steer a car with your eyes
Did you know that you can steer a car with your eyes and the
best way to drive around a corner is backwards? Well...sort of.
This activity explains a couple of techniques that you can
practise when you are not behind the steering wheel. They will help
you learn to steer the car around a curve when you do get behind
the wheel.
This is what it means to 'steer with your eyes'. When you drive,
you will tend to go where you look. If you look to the wrong place,
you will tend to steer towards the wrong place. So it makes sense
to teach yourself to look where you want to go.
Try this next time you are in a car:
- Watch the steering wheel when the driver goes around a
corner or curve. You will notice steering is applied, it stays on
for a short time with some smaller adjustment, and then steering is
taken off
- Watch again and pay most attention to the part where steering
is taken off. This is the part where the car is leaving, or
exiting, the curve. Let’s call it your exit path
- As the driver approaches corners or curves, have a go at
imagining your exit path before the driver starts to steer. See if
your imaginary exit path matches theirs. Do this lots
- Next time the driver approaches corners or curves look to your
exit path and keep looking at it. In your mind think back from the
exit path to where you are now and steer to it when the driver
begins to steer. That’s what it means to drive corners
backwards - you work out a path in your mind that comes back
from your exit path. Do this and you should get to it smoothly
Learning to look to where you want to go will help you when
you get behind the wheel.