How Far Away Should You Be From the Steering Wheel?

Most of us don’t think about the position of our steering wheel when we hop into our car, but did you know that steering wheel position can have a big impact on your safety? Steering wheel airbags inflate at 200 miles per hour, producing 2,000 pounds of force.

We all know that airbags may protect people from serious injuries, so not many consider that airbags can also cause serious injuries. The greatest risk in sitting too close to the steering wheel involves the deployment of the front airbag.

Sitting too far forward can cause other problems, too. If you sit close to your steering wheel, glass from your windshield can cut you in an accident. If the front of your car collapses, your steering wheel can even trap you in place.

How many inches should your body be away from the steering wheel?

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, keep 10 inches or more between a driver and the steering wheel.

Further:

• Make sure your steering wheel faces downward; this will minimize serious impact to the chest and face.
• Always try adjusting the steering wheel to suit your stature before you move closer to the wheel; you may save your life simply by adjusting the wheel.

These two simple steps can be all you need to save your life while driving. Ensure that your steering wheel is never pointed directly at your neck and face—and always make sure that you try to adjust your steering wheel before you adjust your seat.

Driver’s Seat Positioning

A car accident can thrust the driver forward. Drivers who sit too far forward are at an increased risk of hitting their head or chest on the steering wheel.

Extreme instances of crashes like these can cause death, but even a minor strike against a steering wheel can cause:

• Concussions
• Bruising
• Internal injuries
• Broken bones

Ensure your driver’s seat is in the correct position relative to your steering wheel.

You should feel more comfortable and safer if you:

• Maintain the distance of the base of your seat and only recline the back
• Move your driver’s seat back a little and slightly recline the back

According to the NHTSA, sitting as far back from the steering wheel (or dashboard) as possible is one of the best ways to prevent being too close to a deploying front airbag. It makes sense that your head and body will be impacted far less by an airbag (or a steering wheel itself) if you aren’t too close.

Some vehicle manufacturers have recognized the severity of the injuries often caused by driver’s seat airbags. Certain vehicle designs are changing to boast more safety for drivers. Some manufacturers have started including adjustable pedals in their cars drivers can leverage an extra three inches of the clutch, gas, and brake pedal length without needing to push their seats up.

More Tips: Frontal Airbag Safety

• Never put a rear-facing car seat in front of an active airbag
• Children under 13 should sit in the back seat to minimize the likelihood of injuries from airbags
• You can buy pedal extenders to help you use your car more easily without inching your seat up

What Should I Do After a Car Accident?

Stay at the Accident Scene

Never rush to leave the scene of a car accident. Not only is it a crime, but it won’t help you at all. It’ll be harder to get emergency medical attention (if needed), making it difficult to gather evidence about your case.

If you aren’t sure whether you can leave an accident scene, check to see whether:

• You have filed an accident report with the police
• Everyone else on-scene is safe

Make Sure That Everybody Is Safe

If you are physically okay, you should check to ensure that everyone else in the accident is also okay.

Stay still if you suffered a severe injury one sign is extreme head, neck, or back pain.

• Get everyone away from oncoming traffic
• If there’s a risk of fire, don’t stay near vehicles

Call 911

If you call 911 after your accident, the operator will connect you with the appropriate parties for help. They may send out emergency medical services to check up on everyone, even if you don’t think anyone is severely injured.

The operator will also send the police to help clean up the scene and take down an accident report.

• Calling 911 doesn’t mean you were involved in a crime; it’s just the best way to reach help quickly.

Filing a police report after any automobile accident will be extremely important. You can submit a police report as evidence to the insurance company to prove what occurred.

First, a police report will document the accident and include important information such as the date, time, and location of the crash, any damage to the vehicle(s), injuries to those involved, and a police officer’s conclusion about who they believe caused the crash. Additionally, a police report can also include contact information for the drivers or other parties involved in an accident as their respective insurance companies.

All of the information above will be very important when it comes to filing a personal injury claim. When there were witnesses to the crash, a police report can also include these individuals’ contact information.

A police report often includes statements from various parties, such as statements you made to the police and any statements that the other driver made. Statements can be important because they may include incriminating information, such as another driver admitting fault.

Witness statements can also be enormously beneficial when included in a report. A police report can also detail the police officer’s description of what happened.

Based on a police officer’s conclusions about an accident, they will make their report of the accident and who was at fault. In their report, the police may also include:

• A diagram that illustrates the accident scene.
• The point of impact.
• Other important information.

In certain serious accidents, a police officer can also take pictures or videos of the accident scene and damage to the vehicles. When the police give citations to any parties involved, their report will also include such information.

Swap Driver Information

Ask other drivers involved in the accident for their driver information. The information you gather should include their driver’s license, insurance information, license plate number, and so on. You can also ask witnesses for their names and contact information for future reference.

Avoid getting argumentative if another driver is unwilling to provide you with their information. You can always ask the police officer responding to your crash to get this information.

Seek Medical Care

Unfortunately, lots of car accidents necessitate immediate and thorough medical care. If you were in more than a minor crash, you might need treatment on-scene (or transportation to a hospital).

Even if you avoided the hospital after your crash, you still need to see a medical professional. Schedule an appointment with your primary care physician as soon as possible after an accident.

You should always see a doctor immediately after a car crash to protect your health. Certain injuries might not be symptomatic for several days after an accident, so it will be imperative that a doctor accurately diagnoses your injuries and that you begin treatment as quickly as possible.

In some cases, such as those involving internal injuries, not seeking medical attention can result in a life-threatening emergency. For this reason, seeing a doctor after a car accident is critical.

Also, keep the following tips in mind:

• You need to visit your doctor even if you went to the hospital and your treating physician discharged you
• Your doctor should always be up-to-date on your condition
• Your doctor will examine you for signs of delayed or secondary injuries just in case

Visiting your doctor after a car accident is a critical step after a crash. Even if you are okay, you may ask questions about your post-crash experience and confirm that your health is in good standing.

Another important reason to get medical treatment after any car accident is that it often results in official medical documentation of your injuries. This documentation can be an official record showing that your accident caused your injuries.

Without such documentation, an insurance company will almost certainly try to argue that your injuries are not as serious as you claim and that something other than the accident is causing them. Seeking medical treatment after a car accident is thus an essential step in protecting your legal right to recover compensation for your injuries.

In addition to seeking initial medical treatment following an accident, follow all of a doctor’s recommendations regarding your treatment plan. You will have to be sure you fill any prescriptions you get, participate in physical therapy, follow all orders regarding rest, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, and time off from work or school, and attend all follow-up appointments.

Suppose you fail to follow a treatment plan. In that case, the insurance company will try to use your non-compliance as a justification for reducing your settlement or may even deny your claim completely. These reasons exemplify why you should follow your doctor’s recommendations exactly.

Don’t Hesitate to Consult More Than One Legal Professional

It’s easy to consult a car accident lawyer.

That’s why we recommend consulting more than one.

• When you talk to more than one attorney, you can hear more than one legal opinion on your potential case.
• Reputable attorneys understand your position and will not pressure you to work with them; they will also not get angry if you consult other professionals.

These days, virtually every experienced attorney offers free initial consultations. You can take advantage of these to ask questions about your case and learn more about how the legal process might look for you.

Here are some quick reminders:

• The sooner you choose an attorney, the sooner your case can get underway.
• We recommend retaining a lawyer before dealing with insurance companies (so that you have a legal professional on your side)

General Airbag Information

As mentioned above, one of the primary reasons sitting too close to the steering wheel is so dangerous involves a car’s frontal airbags. There’s a lot about airbags that you probably don’t know, and the more educated you are, the better prepared you’ll be to prevent an accident.

Many car manufacturers place airbags in a variety of spots throughout a vehicle. The exact number and placements of the airbags depend on the specific car.

Some examples of airbag types and positions include:

• Center airbags
• Side curtain airbags
• Curtain shield airbags
• Rear knee airbags
• Seat-mounted curtain airbags

In theory, an airbag should create additional safety for vehicle occupants during a crash. Many manufacturers equip vehicles with sensors that deploy airbags upon sudden deceleration.

Airbags Can Have Dangerous Defects

All airbags come with some associated risks.

Even the airbag in your steering wheel (and/or dashboard) can present any of these defects:

• Unexpected deployment: Due to short circuits, other malfunctions, or deceleration not associated with an accident
• Airbag debris: These may strike and injure vehicle occupants upon deployment
• Cuts or tears in the airbag: The airbag does not properly deploy
• Incorrectly sizes airbags
• Airbags that deploy with force beyond manufacturer specifications
• Failure to deploy

Common Frontal Airbag Injuries

An airbag has the potential to cause a wide range of injuries.

Some of the most common include:

• Eye injuries: Lots of airbags shoot out debris and dust when they deploy; and, even if they don’t, an airbag directly to the eye is very likely to cause an injury
• Head injuries: Head injuries can be very serious. This fact is especially true when they also involve brain injuries. People can get concussions just from frontal impact with an airbag. If an airbag fails to deploy, someone can suffer very severe head or neck injuries when they strike the inside of the car.
• Neck injuries: Neck injuries are often painful and have long-lasting effects. Very forceful deployments can cause serious neck injuries.
• Injuries to the chest or upper extremities: Side airbags can damage the chest and upper extremities when they deploy, but consider what might happen to your chest if you’re sitting too close to your steering wheel when a frontal airbag deploys. You can suffer bruising, internal injuries, and even broken bones.
• Facial and neck injuries: Facial and neck injuries are common after airbag deployment; failure to deploy and proper deployment both pose these risks.
• Concussions: Many car accidents involve the possibility of concussions. Proper evaluation by a medical professional after any such accident is important, even when victims feel fine at the time. While some people can fully recover from concussions with time, the brain can still be sensitive to damage, and victims have to avoid any activity that can put them at risk of further injury. In some cases, concussions can cause permanent, serious, and debilitating problems, including difficulty moving, speaking, or learning.
• Burn injuries: Airbags typically contain sodium azide and sodium hydroxide, which create high-temperature thermal gasses to inflate the airbag. As an airbag deflates, these substances can cause thermal or alkali burns and friction burns directly related to contact with a rapidly expanding airbag. Airbag deployment may cause second-degree burns to the upper extremities, trunk, and face.
• Soft tissue injuries: Soft tissue connects and supports other tissues and surrounds the organs in the body. It includes muscles, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons, and tissues surrounding the bones and joints. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reports that most severe soft tissue injuries (SSTI) of the upper extremity require expensive, extensive treatments and extended hospitalizations.
• Wrist injuries and sprained fingers: When a victim’s hands remain close to airbag deployment, they can be at risk of certain hand injuries that require treatment and can make life considerably difficult following an accident.
• Spinal cord injuries: Some people may suffer significant spinal cord injuries due to the impact of an airbag. SCIs include incomplete spinal cord injuries such as anterior cord syndrome, Brown-Sequard syndrome, central cord syndrome, triplegia that involves paralysis of three limbs (usually one arm and both legs), monoplegia involving one limb, hemiplegia involving muscles of the lower face, arm, and leg on one side of the body, or diplegia affecting symmetrical parts of the body, such as both legs or both arms. They can also involve complete spinal cord injuries such as tetraplegia or quadriplegia, which paralyzes both arms and both legs, or paraplegia, which paralyzes the lower body.
• Hearing loss: Certain victims can simply lose their sense of hearing because of airbag deployment.

An Attorney Can Help if an Airbag or Steering Wheel Injures You

If you’ve suffered injuries related to an airbag or steering wheel in a car crash, a car accident lawyer can help. Here are the steps you may follow when you partner with an attorney.

Finding the Right Lawyer

Finding the right lawyer can prove tricky, but it shouldn’t be something you’re afraid of. You can leverage free consultations with several attorneys to find the right one for you.

When you meet with a lawyer, ask them:

• What is your level of experience?
• How many cases like mine have you handled?
• What is your general success rate?
• How do you think my case might play out?
• Who will work on my case?

Investigation and Negotiation

The investigation and negotiation stages of this process are the most involved.

You’ll work with your lawyer (by providing them with information) to investigate what happened.

• Your lawyer will ask you lots of questions about your accident.
• You may need to speak to industry experts (like auto professionals) about what happened.

After the investigation phase, you’ll move towards negotiation. During negotiations, your attorney will try to convince the insurance company to pay you a fair amount for your losses. In many cases, this phase is the end of the road, as settling during negotiation is very common.

Filing a Lawsuit

While most cases do settle without ever entering a courtroom, you should prepare for the potential that yours can become a lawsuit.

When you file a lawsuit, both you and the liable party will have an opportunity to present statements and evidence. Your attorney and the defendant’s attorney can call witnesses and industry experts to strengthen a case.

This step is where many cases settle, but for others, another step is necessary: mediation. When mediation fails, cases move to trial. The trial length depends on unique factors your lawyer can help you through as efficiently as possible.