Haven’t Changed the Way You Drive in Years? Then You’re Probably Driving All Wrong

It turns out that many of the driving guidelines that we were taught in drivers' ed class have changed, including the old standby of keeping our hands on the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions on a clock.

The new take: AAA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and driving instructors teach that you should keep your hands lower, at 9 and 3 o'clock, or even lower, at 8 and 4. MSNBC says this change is partly to protect our hands and head, because if airbags go off, they're more likely to injure your hands that are higher up on the steering wheel and then slam your hands into your head. So apparently it's a "stop hitting yourself" adjustment.

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Finally, that "hand over hand" turning maneuver you were taught? Also out. Now:

Instead, you're supposed to "push-pull" — that is, push the wheel up with one hand and pull it down with the other, without crossing over.

This, too, is for safety reasons to avoid the perils of a deploying airbag. So there you have it. News to us. How about you?

Turn the wheel without crossing over? That's crazy talk!

holy shit. that's how I have ALWAYS been driving. I guess doing it wrong saves time.

For the record, I suspect if other people had legs as hairy as mine, and skin that reacts to any sort of long-term rubbing with ingrown hairs, you'd shave at least every few months. I did go a year or so once without shaving, but got sick of dealing with ingrown hairs from my socks.

At the moment, I've got about month's growth, because I can't find my stupid electric razor.

Also, as a hirsute woman, I can assure you that guard hairs (what make up men's beards and too much of my facial hair) are much harder to wax than that downy woman stuff.

I kind of irrationally resent almost anyone with very little body hair, which includes my sister, mother, and brother. And my sister-in-law. I HATE shaving or waxing or epilating, but it beats the alternative by a lot.

I wear heels when I want to because I think they are pretty. I think men's heels from the 18th century are also pretty. And that every gender should be able to wear or not wear makeup as they desire.

But I acknowledge that my genderqueer self has issues and influences that inform those opinions.

I just saw a commercial for Luvs diapers that I'm never going to be able to erase from my memory.

Then You’re Probably Driving All Wrong

That's all Smith System stuff, which two employers beat into my head years ago. The Smith System driving training is far and away the most useful employee training I ever had.

It really must be that Time of Year, because I just had my first "spring" shave Wednesday, so that I can wear my calf-revealing sandals without The Socks Of Shame.

God, I hate leg hair removal. I put it off way too long in the winter and then realize I need a machete to get through it.

Yes, this week's warm weather also corresponded with my realization that I could not wear shorts to the gym without shame.

holy shit. that's how I have ALWAYS been driving.

Ha! Me too!

I just saw a commercial for Luvs diapers that I'm never going to be able to erase from my memory.

Poop! (There It Is), or something worse?? Could there be anything worse??

Could there be anything worse??

No, that was it. There must be someone I can sue for emotional distress.

For the record, I suspect if other people had legs as hairy as mine, and skin that reacts to any sort of long-term rubbing with ingrown hairs

Ingrown hairs are the WORST.

I kind of irrationally resent almost anyone with very little body hair

Yeah, right there with you.

It wasn't until university that I spent grooming time around women with armpit hair. I hadn't realised the gender was were thusly blessed.

In her 20s, my sister told me she'd shaved her legs. I asked why, and she said she wanted to know what it was about. I shamed her into stopping.