AAA issues new recommendations for driving - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The largest automobile club in America has some new driving recommendations to help you stay safer behind the wheel.

The American Automobile Association sponsors several driving school throughout the state of Indiana. They are steering new drivers away from the "10 o'clock and 2 o'clock" positions. They say it will keep you from injuring yourself with your own hands if the airbag deploys.

"If the bag is going to go, it's going to take my hand and put it into my face and either one of my hands," said AAA Driving School Leader Bob Hendrickson.

Hendrickson says studies show some drivers are suffering from injuries from their own hands and arms during airbag deployments. In some cases, drivers are suffering broken noses and concussions, even in minor collisions.

Driving with your hands at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock are not the only suggestions from AAA. They are also making recommendations on how you turn the wheel, too. They are also no longer recommending "hand over hand" steering, instead saying you should "push and pull" the wheel around.

Hendrickson stresses that avoiding the "hand over hand" steering habit may take practice, even for drivers like Mable Brown, who already have the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock position down to a science.

"I can hold the steering wheel steady and I have always drove that way," Brown said.

Not every driving school has adopted the new recommendations, but AAA hopes 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock becomes the number one way to drive.