I like the saying "thumbs-up for thumbs-out!" There's more to it than the airbag. In an accident the steering wheel can carry a lot of force. Frangible and lat

I like the saying "thumbs-up for thumbs-out!" There's more to it than the airbag. In an accident the steering wheel can carry a lot of force. Frangible and later collapsible steering columns (and now common power steering) have alleviated by a lot but it is still quite a lot of force. You don't want just pushing or pulling vigorously on on the wheel or a huge pothole to affect it. In the time before airbags when these things were created it was more to prevent breaking too many ribs while impaling the driver. So anyway, problem to this day is that the wheel can wretch around by many degrees very rapidly in an accident. This can break a thumb or what not. So don't wrap your thumb around the wheel but have them more in a Fonzie thumbs-up jut off to the outside. In the time before airbags it was also recommended to take your hands off the wheel and have your forearms over your chest and chest and hands over face the moment you no longer had control and could not regain it before the impact. This protected your ribs and face. The advice now is to bring your hands up to your armpits without any crossing or covering in an airbag equipped car.