Choosing The Right Driving Posture

May 26th, 2023

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When I learned to drive, I wasn’t told much about correct driving posture apart from ensuring that my feet could reach the pedals (obviously) and that my hands were in the “ten past two” position*. However, as time went on and I drove more, I soon came to learn that there’s more to sitting comfortably, and there’s a reason why car manufacturers take so much trouble with designing seats and making them adjustable in many different ways.

If you’ve felt stiff and sore after driving for a long time, then your driving posture might have something do to with it. Sitting down in a car seat is no different from sitting down in an office chair from some perspectives, and it’s important to allow for regular breaks during a long drive so that you can stretch your legs, etc. – just like you would if you were at work. Your office chair is probably not as comfy and cushy as the driver’s seat, unless you’ve done what I’ve done and converted the seat from an old Ford Falcon into an office chair (it’s a pig to move in and out, though, as I haven’t put castors on it).

Although the idea would be to get up every 20 minutes, we all know that this isn’t always possible when driving (every hour is more like it).  However, you can reduce the strain on your body – and it is strain – from holding in one position for ages by ensuring that you’re sitting correctly. If you’ve felt stiff after a long drive, then this might help you.

Everybody’s body is different, so I can’t give precise measurements and angles.  You may have long legs in proportion to your body, a big bum or a long back.  You may be a massive great big dude over six feet tall, or you may be a petite woman reaching five feet in her high heels.  This means that what’s ideal for you probably won’t be idea for someone else.  In fact, what’s best for you might not even be possible in some vehicles, so always test out the seats before you buy a new car.  This means that in the case of a couple consisting of the big dude and the petite lady, you’ll need to compromise (not ideal) or even buy two cars.

OK, to make sure you’re sitting comfortably, let’s begin with some basics. Take your wallet and/or phone and anything else out of your back pocket, because that will have an effect.  Now take time to find out what a neutral spine feels like.  A neutral spine is not a straight back, as the human spine is supposed to have a nice gentle S-bend shape to it.  Stand up and, if you can, check in a mirror side on.  Ensure that your weight is evenly distributed on both feet and don’t fully lock your knees.  Now imagine that there’s a string attached to the top of your head and that it’s pulling you up. 

For more help with knowing what a nice neutral spine feels like, I suggest chatting to your friendly local physiotherapist, taking up Pilates or both.

Now to get into the car.  Oddly, you need to start with the seat in completely the wrong position and then bring it into the right position.  If you’re doing this for the first time in a new car (or a car that you’re considering buying) then move everything as far as it can go – seat angle, steering wheel and all. Push the seat right back as far as it can go.  Now you’re ready to adjust it.

Let’s start with the seat height. In fact, the seat height is the least adjustable thing in many cars, so if you can’t get the height right, you may have to consider another vehicle. Your hips should be about as high as your knees or just a smidge lower (but not too low).  However, you shouldn’t be so high that you hit your head on the top of the car or that you have to crane your head down to see the instrument panel.  If you are too low down, you can use a cushion to get you high enough.  Also check where the edge of the seat is relative to the backs of your knees. If the edge of the seat pushes into your knees, this will restrict your circulation, and riding in that car will be very uncomfortable. Seriously, this matters.  I once owned a car that did this to me. It was great in other ways but the problem with circulation in the feet and legs was so bad that we sold the vehicle (hope it suited the new owner better). Reach down and see if you can fit two fingers between the edge of the seat and your knees. If you can, you’re all good.

Now bring the seat forward so you can reach the pedals (and the footrest) while keeping your back snugly against the seat.  You should have a small bend in your legs, as locking your legs for long periods isn’t all that good for them.  Your heels (in bare feet or ordinary shoes, not high heels) should be on the ground rather than dangling, and you should be able to push the pedal down with your heel on the floor as the fulcrum of a lever.  It’s possible to buy pedal extenders so you can do this if the car is perfect in every other way.  Of all the things that make driving tiring, an accelerator pedal that you can’t operate with your heel on the floor is the worst, and I’ve driven a couple.

If you can adjust the tilt of the seat, play around a bit until you find the position that gives you a neutral spine.  Women will naturally have a more forward tilt than men thanks to the shape of the female pelvis (high heels were invented to exaggerate this) but not too extreme.  Modern car seats have been designed to prevent “submarining”, which is when someone slides out under the seatbelt during the sudden stop in a crash, but this slightly backward angle isn’t all that good for our backs.  There’s not much you can do about this, so get the tilt as close as you can to what gives you a neutral spine.

Now for the seat back. This should not be at right angles to the ground (straight up and down) but it shouldn’t be so far back that it forces you/allows you to slouch your chest, head and shoulders forward.  Keep that spine in neutral position.  If you have lumbar support, this should sit snugly into your lumbar lordosis (the curve in your lower back just above your pelvis).  Some cars don’t have height-adjustable lumbar support (bad luck), and just have lumbar support that’s adjustable in terms of depth.  If your car doesn’t have lumbar support or if it’s in the wrong place for your body (I have a long back in proportion to my legs, so this happens to me a lot), then a lumbar cushion is worth buying and fitting to your car.

Moving on up, make sure that your shoulders can press against the back of the chair, then adjust the head rest. The head rest is supposed to be a head rest, not a neck rest, so sit with a neutral spine and ensure that the head rest touches the back of your head.

Now to adjust the steering wheel. You should be able to get both hands on it with a slight bend in your elbows – driving with straight arms puts strain on your shoulders and neck.  The best position isn’t “ten to two”, as I was taught, but quarter past nine (nine and three) down to seven and five.  Adjust the height of the steering wheel to suit you.

In a perfect world, we’d be able to customize everything so that it suited our bodies perfectly, especially when it comes to female bodies. Traditionally, car seats have been designed to fit the average male, but manufacturers have seem to have woken up to the fact that half of the population has a female body and are factoring this into their seat designs and safety features (Mazda and Volvo, for example).  That’s a topic for another day (and one I’ve discussed before) but in the meantime, if you aim to have a neutral spine and to keep a gentle bend in your arms and your legs while driving, you should be about right.

And don’t forget to allow for regular breaks to get up out of your seat during a longer journey.