The mantra when Pat was learning to drive was ‘hands at 10 and 2 o’clock’ when gripping the steering wheel. Turns out, all of us Gen X’ers may need a driver refresher course. Adam does a deep dive into recent headlines citing a huge increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in North America. Our favourite planetary scientist, Dr. Stuart Robbins, tells us about the fascinating rules around naming stuff in space.
Download direct: mp3 file
Hands at 10 and 2
Get with the times: You’re driving all wrong
Forget 10 and 2: Drive With Your Hands at 9 and 3
Things Have Changed Since You Learned to Drive
Get a G driver’s licence: new drivers
Anti-Asian Hate Crime Stats
FBI Releases 2019 Hate Crime Statistics – FBI
Anti-Asian hate crime jumps 1,900 percent – Queens Chronicle
Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Many Say More Policing Isn’t the Answer – Time
Planetary Nomenclature w/Dr. Stuart Robbins
Planetary Names: Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites
I was honestly surprised to learn that Pat was taught “10 and 2.” I received my driver training in high school, in the remote farm town of Smithfield in the mountains of far northern Utah. While our textbook urged “10 and 2,” our instructors taught us that extensive testing had now rendered this obsolete.
And by “now,” I mean 1973.
We were shown a film that recreated a sample of the tests that had been conducted. A 19-year-old driver with three years’ experience was run through an obstacle course. The car she drove was specially equipped so that a researcher riding in the back seat could, with the press of a button, instantly deflate any one of the car’s tires, simulating a blowout. The course was intricate enough to command her full attention in order to maximize the element of surprise. Her ability to regain control of the car was tested several times with hands at 10 and 2, then with hands at 9 and 3. Both her objectively measured performance and self-assessment showed clearly that 9 and 3 gave her significantly better control in a skid.
This was before airbags. They had been invented but were still very much in the experimental stage. They were not yet available at the consumer level and would not become widely standard for another fifteen or twenty years. Not air bags but questions of vehicle control and reaction time drove the 1970s recommended change from 10-and-2 to 9-and-3 (not to be confused with 25 or 6 to 4, which is a song by Chicago and should not be attempted on a steering wheel by any driver with fewer than three hands).
The fact that 9-and-3, in all these ensuing years, did not take hold until air bags forced the issue comes as a surprise to me.
That’s really interesting. When I said it was a ‘mantra’ I wasn’t kidding. I also asked a number of people… being fearful I was the only person oblivious… and all were taught 10 and 2.
p.s. Great podcast, as always.