Women polishing steering wheels with their noses...

Women polishing steering wheels with their noses...

Author
Discussion

Six Fiend

Original Poster:

6,067 posts

222 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Someone else must have noticed this. Why do they sit so close and in such small cars?

With steering wheels and seats adjustable in a multitude of directions you would need to have a physical abnormality to need to sit so close.
Admittedly there will be some who do, this is not about them, but why do I see so many driving schools teaching a driving position which offers sod all control over steering and a look of abject terror?

Is it due to sloping bonnets?

Why do men manage the ten to two hands with arms bent at the elbow to give a comfortable yet controlled steering position? Are so many women too feeble to reach the steering wheel?

And while I'm at it, every time I leave my house I have to wait for a learner to finish a reverse around/across the corner (sometimes from nearside to off side kerb!). They stop, blocking the road, and expect me (and everyone else) to file past them on the off side with no view to the right or what may be approaching. It's not a quiet street anymore and four times a day you're likely to meet the world's fastest Royal Mail van driven by a rabid loon who reckons he could teach that cheeky upstart Lewis Hamilton a thing or two.

Parking just around the corner on Saturday a learner nearly side swiped the Mazda too. Only the accompanying passenger (not a driving school car) grabbing the wheel saved the side of my shiny motor.

Okay so general rant about leaner type stuff. But ooooooooh!

It really grinds my gears

Edited by Six Fiend on Monday 26th March 16:29

batfink

1,032 posts

265 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
women are shorter.........the end lol

My g/f is only 5ft4 so she sits pretty close to the steering wheel.
Its pedal position rather than the wheel that she has to reach so she is closer to the steering wheel than she would want.

Lagerlout

1,810 posts

243 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
ditto with the wife

Six Fiend

Original Poster:

6,067 posts

222 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
But I'm only 5'6" and a bit with short legs

Are womenfolk all shrinking? Is that what you're saying? Is it due to climate change? They're melting???

iaint

10,040 posts

245 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Six Fiend said:
Okay so general rant about leaner type stuff. But ooooooooh!


Being skinny shouldn't have too much impact on how close you sit, just how close you can sit... porkers have to sit further away.

Zod

35,295 posts

265 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
In any well designed car, it's a question of seat and wheel adjustment. From observation of other drivers, I would estimate that no more than 10% knwo how to do this properly. The women may be too low and too close, but plenty of blokes seem to think that straight arms make for a good driving position or one hand the wrong side of 12 o'clock with the elbow out towards the driver's window.

dtmpower

3,972 posts

252 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Why do women sit so low in the car - jack the seat height up so you can see out of the windscreen !

becca_viola

9,932 posts

218 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
I'm 5'1" and with the seat height jacked up to the max I still feel pretty low down. I steer one-handed using a spinner ball so I'm not sure if that means I need to be a bit closer to get enough leverage but I do prefer to sit pretty far forward.

Timberwolf

5,374 posts

225 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Zod said:
... one hand the wrong side of 12 o'clock with the elbow out towards the driver's window.


Hey! Don't disrespect the "gangsta lean", you never know when someone packing heat might start shooting while you're cruising the mean streets of, er, Byfleet.

Not to be confused with the other defensive driving position, in which the aim is to ensure that the only thing visible above the doorline of the car is a baseball cap, preferably white. "It's like sitting in me bathtub, innit."

Philbes

4,502 posts

241 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
I have a sister-in-law who sits too low and too close to the steering wheel. I pointed out that it was dangerous as the closer her head is to the A-pillar the more that A-pillar blocked her view. I proved it by walking towards the car in the blind spot and asking her when she could see mee with the seat in her normal position and then in my suggested position. In the revised position she also had better clutch control and smoother steering. But she still put the seat back into her usual positon "because it felt right"! Incidentally, this is ina Sierra estate.


Edited by Philbes on Monday 26th March 17:00

abarthchris

2,259 posts

222 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Philbes said:
I have a sister-in-law who sits too low and too close to the steering wheel. I pointed out that it was dangerous as the closer her head is to the A-pillar the more that A-pillar blocked her view. I proved it by walking towards the car in the blind spot and asking her when she could see mee with the seat in her normal position and then in my suggested position. In the revised position she also had better clutch control and smoother steering. But she still put the seat back into her usual positon "because it felt right"! Incidentally, this is ina Sierra estate.


Edited by Philbes on Monday 26th March 17:00


its also dangerous as the airbag will put their nose through the back of their neck!

blueyes

4,799 posts

259 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
I think if you look closely, you'll see they are polishing their peanuts.

Parrot of Doom

23,075 posts

241 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Probably because most cars aren't really designed for women. If they were, the pedals would be much closer (or fully adjustable).

Six Fiend

Original Poster:

6,067 posts

222 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Parrot of Doom said:
Probably because most cars aren't really designed for women. If they were, the pedals would be much closer (or fully adjustable).


In Harry Enfield mode...

Grayson you've hit the nail on the head. They're just not meant to drive

tracyf

10 posts

212 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
If women weren't ment to drive how would you p#**ed up men get home from the pub?

vixpy1

42,674 posts

271 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
tracyf said:
If women weren't ment to drive how would you p#**ed up men get home from the pub?


get a cab?

Road_Terrorist

5,591 posts

249 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Women have built in chest cushioning, so they obviously feel safer sitting closer to the wheel.

tracyf

10 posts

212 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Thats providing

A)You were wise enough to book your cab before leaving home
or
B)you are able to SEE the keypad after 1/2 a shandy and a sniff of the barmans apron
or
C)You don't have a kebab stuck to the side of your face or look like your about to do a technicolour yawn in the back of the afore mention cablaugh

markmullen

15,877 posts

241 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Working selling cars I go out pretty frequently with women driving, I find the main issue is that the majority of women need to see the front of the car, the furthest point of the bonnet. They do this by sitting is high up and close to the wheel as possible. Men on the other hand are happy just to acknowledge that its somewhere in front and so sit low and further back.

I understand this might be related to differences in the way male and female brains work but I'm not a psychologist so that might be bollox.

roop

6,012 posts

291 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
My missus is a short-arse and doesn't drive like that. Neither does Gaffer and she's five foot nothing and a bit. Perhaps it's a confidence thing...???