# Would You Drive a Car Without a Steering Wheel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849 "2010-06-11T21:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/1 "2010-06-11T21:37:15Z")
Now that we have drive by wire systems, why do we need a clunky steering wheel in our cars? I would like to have a joystick like control-you could then control acceleration, braking and steering with one easy to use control. Plus, you wouldn’t have to be worried about being implaed (in the event of a crash) in the steering column. Is such an idea feasible? I recall seeing a version of this in the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/2 "2010-06-11T22:46:01Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Now that we have drive by wire systems, why do we need a clunky steering wheel in our cars? Think of it as a familiar and highly intuitive user interface. > [@](#): > > I would like to have a joystick like control-you could then control acceleration, braking and steering with one easy to use control. Some care would be needed to ensure that acceleration and braking are easily modulated and not twitchy. > [@](#): > > Plus, you wouldn’t have to be worried about being implaed (in the event of a crash) in the steering column. True, but you’d also lose an obvious place to put the driver’s airbag. > [@](#): > > Is such an idea feasible? Probably. But it suffers from a fair component of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/3 "2010-06-11T23:02:07Z")
Even driving videogames don’t usually put steering, gas, and brake on the same stick. There’s a reason for that. It’s hard to move a joystick left/right without introducing a little up/down movement as well. Similarly, it’s hard to move up/down without getting a little left/right drift. As a result, it would be very hard with a single-stick control to execute simple actions like holding a steady speed while you turn, or keeping the nose of the car pointed straight during emergency braking. In addition, joysticks don’t move very far compared to the rotational range of a steering wheel. There’s always a trade-off between speed and precision in situations like this. It takes longer to rotate a big car wheel than to move a small joystick, but it also makes it easier to get just the angle you want. I hate to think about trying to parallel park using delicate little joystick movements. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/4 "2010-06-11T23:09:21Z")
Joystick controls exist in [concept cars](http://www.snopes.com/photos/automobiles/newmercedes.asp), at least. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/5 "2010-06-11T23:15:04Z")
A joystick is great until your kid bumps your arm, sending you across the center line into an oncoming truck. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/6 "2010-06-11T23:46:19Z")
I drove a moped for 3 years. Steering is mainly controlled with your butt and shifting your weight. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/7 "2010-06-12T00:17:24Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I drove a moped for 3 years. Steering is mainly controlled with your butt and shifting your weight. Nitpick, shifting your weight does almost nothing to turn a motorcycle or moped. Do a Youtube search on “Twist of the Wrist”. THere’s a couple demos form the training dvds. In one section they have an experienced rider on a bike set up with a set of handlebars that are fixed straight ahead. THe guy leans way the hell off them left and right with negligible effect. Back to the OP, Steering wheels work well, I’m not in a hurry to try something else. If you don’t buy it, no one will make it. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/8 "2010-06-12T01:29:48Z")
One issue here–what if a passenger accidentally bumps the driver (or the joystick itself)? Seems more likely to send you into the ditch than an accidental bump with the current setup. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/9 "2010-06-12T01:33:48Z")
I would drive it myself, but I wouldn’t want the general population using it. We’ve got a fairly good record with a wheel and pedals setup - everything is seperate and intuitive and most people do a pretty good job understanding it. Joysticks would take more precision, would be more susceptable to some sort of bumping interruption (including a jolt from bad road conditions), and you definitely don’t want everything on one control for the reasons people already mentioned. No, the current system works fine and has little in the way of downsides. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-drive-a-car-without-a-steering-wheel/542849/10 "2010-06-12T01:38:57Z")
**ralph214c** , I’m locking this. Start a new thread in IMHO, which is where this topic belongs.