I saw an old “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” the other night, about a man who was in a car wreck that pushed the steering column into his chest and the steering wheel into the man’s neck, casuing his neck to break. It made me wonder why after all of these years the steering column is still on the drivers side. It seems like it would be safer to place it in the middle of the car and eliminate the steering wheel entirely, replacing it instead with some kind of hand control. It just seems like a lot of money and technology has been invested in protecting the driver from the wheel and column, when the problem could be solved just by changing its location in the car.
I think one problem in many cars would be getting the new centered steering mechanism through the engine. As currently situated, they pass along the side. When I start contemplating the bizarre ways around that problem, just leaving it where it is and designing it to collapse in an accident sounds a lot simpler.
Of course, when **Alfred Hitchcock Presents" was in production, most automobile steering columns were one long metal shaft that extended from the steering gear to the steering wheel. In a crash, the steering wheel would slam into the driver, and the forces of the collision could be severe enough to shove the column through the driver’s chest.
It’s been a while since I’ve read up on the subject, but during the sixties (possibly earlier) manufacturers began designing the steering wheel to absorb some of the crash energy (part of the reason for dished steering wheels, where the rim and the hub are not in the same plane). Some cars (I forget who, but I think it was Ford) went so far as to put a rather large padded hub on the steering wheel to help absorb crash forces. Steering columns were designed to telescope, fold or collapse, absorbing the energy of impact, rather than transferring the energy of the collision directly to the driver.
Volvo has been working on a “drive-by-wire” steering system that does away with the steering column altogether. The video I’ve seen of such systems shows an otherwise normal vehicle with a joystick between the driver and passenger instead of a steering wheel.
As far as the steering wheel being on the driver’s side, it’s easier for the driver to exercise more positive control over the vehicle (and nowadays, it’s used as a location for the driver-side airbag). The steering wheel replaced tiller steering because it allowed better control (if the car bounces or lurches over rough surfaces, a steering wheel is less likely to be moved enough in the wrong direction to make a difference.
~~Baloo
I must’ve done a /i instead of a /b when closing the bold tag. Sorry.
~~Baloo
Alot of people have proposed handheld controls, like joysticks and flight yokes and things like that. The problem is one of reliability. These would be purely electronic controls, ie an electric signal would tell a motor to turn the steering mechanism. But what happens if something in the steering mechanism breaks? Anyone who had a video game system as a child can testify that those control devices wear out fairly quickly. With today’s steering columns, if the power steering fails you can still steer the car. It’ll just be a little harder. If you had a “fly-by-wire” steering system (no manual connection between the controls and wheels) and something broke, you’d be SOL. And what if it happened while you were driving down the freeway at 80 mph with a curve coming up? You would be so royally screwed. Steering wheels are just safer.
brad_d wrote:
The McLaren F1 seems to have solved this; the driver sits in the center. Unfortunately, the F1 is no longer in production; if you can find one, expect to pay about $500K.
If you look carefully at many steering columns, you will see that many of them are offset, and often consist of three shafts with 2 universal joints composing them. Thus, in an accident the bottom shaft is pushed forward, but the middle shaft goes to the side, and the top shaft stays put. Thus, the driver does not get injured. In order for the bottom shaft to be pushed far enough up to injure the driver, the car would almost have to be completely crushed flat. This is not a new system BTW, as my 1974, 1979, 1980, and 1988 cars all had this system.
Rear-mounted engine. But that doesn’t solve the problem; the wheel’s still on the end of the column, just moved over.
Ah yes, let’s install electronic steering devices, giving us YET ANOTHER THING TO GO WRONG WITH THE GODDAMN ELECTRONIC CRAP!!!
I’m sorry. I have a digital dashboard and I just learned that ANOTHER of the gauges is broken. (The list now includes: tachometer [off by 2000], gas gauge [permanently full, or permanently empty, depending on which side of half full you are on], oil pressure [not there at all because the component melted], and speedometer [off by 3-5 mph give or take], so I’m a little cynical when it comes to putting too much technology in our vehicles and depending on it too much.)
I agree about the unreliability of electronics. If there was a way to do it, I would want it to be all mechanical like it is now, just moved somehow. Even if columns are designed to collapse now, you still have the steering wheel to contend with in a collision. As far as I’m concerned, I want less stuff between me and the rest of the car in a crash - like the passenger side has. But on the other hand, I can’t imagine a hand held device on your console of any sort that would be as easy to use as a steering wheel right in front you. Especially in a situation that called for quick, tight maneuvering.
On a modern car, the steering column may even make a crash SAFER for the driver. The passenger cabin will remain intact under any “normal” crash loads that would be survivable, the column will break away as previously described, and the air bag being deployed so close to your chest will help restrain you against flailing around and breaking precious appendages. Your passenger, by comparison, has to cope with a more-remote (or non-existent) airbag, and basically depends on the shoulder harness for restraint.
I had a strange experience last week when going to the impound lot to pick up my now-trashed but formerly-stolen Mercury. Sitting next to it was a car I recognized… an Alfa Romeo I had bought for my ex-girlfriend five years ago. She left me, took the car, and moved in with the Alfa mechanic.
The car was trashed; it looked like it had wrapped around a light pole but I learned later it was the corner of a building near my house. A few panicked hours later I learned she was alive; very bruised, but having worn that 5-point harness I bought her for the first time in a year, alive.
the point; her nose broke the steering wheel. The column, one good-old-fashioned single-pipe, was unbent. If no 5-point, ex-ex.
So thank your lucky stars those boys at the big 3 have gotten savvy to collapsibles. best thing to hold up an airbag, really.
Slightly off the subject, but I think it was the British Chief of police, a few years ago, who said that the easiest way to make cars 100% safe would be to fix a large metal spike to the centre of the steering wheel.
I t would work for most situations.