Push-pull steering is not compulsory on the UK driving test, and crossing your hands is not an automatic fault. This surprises a lot of learners, because the opposite is repeated so often that it has become received wisdom. The DVSA does not mandate a single steering method. What it assesses is whether you keep proper control of the car.
<div class=”gmp-keyfacts”><p class=”gmp-keyfacts__title”>Key facts</p><ul><li>The DVSA does not require any specific steering method on the practical test.</li><li>Crossing your hands is not automatically a fault.</li><li>Examiners assess whether the car is kept under control, not the technique used.</li><li>Steering is marked when control is lost, the car strays, or a kerb is struck.</li><li>Push-pull remains the standard taught method because it is reliable under pressure.</li></ul></div>
That distinction matters, because learners who believe crossing their hands will fail them often steer worse for it. They run out of lock mid-manoeuvre, snatch at the wheel to recover, and produce exactly the loss of control that does get marked.
Is push-pull steering compulsory on the driving test?
No. There is no requirement in the practical test to steer using the push-pull method, and no requirement to keep your hands in any particular position on the wheel.
The examiner marks steering under control of the vehicle. The question being asked is whether the car went where you intended, smoothly and safely, without straying out of position or striking anything. How your hands got it there is not the assessment.
This has been the position for many years, and yet the myth persists, partly because push-pull is what most learners are taught first, and partly because “you’ll fail for crossing your hands” is an easy shorthand that gets repeated. It is not the rule.
What is push-pull steering?
Push-pull steering, sometimes called the pull-push method or feeding the wheel, keeps both hands on separate halves of the wheel and never crosses them.
To turn right: your right hand slides up the wheel and pulls it down, while your left hand slides up to meet it and pushes. The hands alternate, feeding the wheel through, each staying broadly in its own half. To turn left, the roles reverse.
The reasons it is taught as the default are practical rather than regulatory:
- You never run out of lock. Because you can keep feeding, you can apply as much steering as you need without repositioning.
- Both hands stay on the wheel. You retain control if a wheel hits a pothole or the car is unsettled.
- It stays smooth under pressure. When a learner is nervous, a method with no awkward hand-over point tends to hold together better.
- Your arms stay clear of the airbag. Crossed arms in front of the wheel are a genuine injury risk if the airbag deploys.
That last point is the one worth taking seriously regardless of what the test requires.
What is rotational steering?
Rotational steering, often called hand-over-hand, involves one hand crossing over the other to turn the wheel further in one movement. It is quicker for large amounts of lock and is common in slow manoeuvres where a lot of steering is needed in a short time.
Many experienced drivers use a blend without thinking about it: push-pull for ordinary bends and junctions, something closer to rotational when reversing into a space or turning the car around. That blend is entirely acceptable on test.
Where rotational steering causes problems is at speed. Crossing your hands on a fast bend leaves you briefly in a weak position, and if the car needs a correction at that moment you are poorly placed to give it. The clearest example is a low-grip surface: if you find black ice part-way round a bend, the recovery is a small, smooth input with both hands already in place, which is precisely what you do not have mid-crossover.
When does steering actually get marked?
Steering is marked when control suffers, not when technique varies. In practice, examiners record steering faults for things like:
- Straying out of position. Cutting a corner, drifting across a lane line, or ending up too close to the kerb or the centre.
- Striking or mounting the kerb. A common marked fault, and one that can be serious depending on the circumstances and whether anyone was endangered.
- Steering too late. Arriving at a bend and having to add lock sharply because the initial steering was insufficient.
- Losing control during a manoeuvre. Running out of lock, letting the wheel spin back freely, or taking both hands off.
- Dry steering. Turning the wheel while the car is completely stationary. This is not usually marked as a driving fault on its own, but it is discouraged because it wears the tyres and strains the steering.
Notice that none of these are about hand position. They are about outcomes. Our guide to driving test major faults explains how faults escalate from a driving fault to a serious one.
Can you take one hand off the wheel?
Yes, when there is a reason to. You need one hand for the gear lever, the handbrake, the indicators and the wipers, and no examiner expects otherwise.
What gets marked is keeping a hand off the wheel with no purpose – resting an arm on the door or the gear lever while steering one-handed through a bend. That reduces your control and it will be noticed.
The practical rule: use the hand for the job, then return it to the wheel.
Which method should you use on manoeuvres?
Slow-speed manoeuvres are where the two methods diverge most, and where being dogmatic hurts you.
Reversing into a bay, turning in the road or reversing around a corner may need close to full lock quickly. Feeding the wheel strictly push-pull can be slow and can leave you running out of steering at the worst moment. Most instructors will let you shift the hands more freely here, because the priority is accurate positioning and steady observation.
What examiners are watching during a manoeuvre is broader than the steering anyway: your observation, whether you check all round before and during, your control of the speed, and your accuracy at the end. Our guides to reversing and the three-point turn cover the observation routines these manoeuvres depend on.
So what should you actually do?
Learn push-pull properly as your default. Use it for ordinary driving, bends, junctions and roundabouts. It is smooth, it keeps both hands on the wheel and it never leaves you short of lock.
Then be pragmatic on slow manoeuvres. If shifting your grip gets the car where it needs to be more accurately, do it. You will not be failed for it.
Above all, do not spend the test thinking about your hands. Learners who are monitoring their own grip are not looking far enough ahead, and poor forward planning causes far more faults than steering technique ever will.
Comfort matters too, and it starts before you move. If your seat is too far back you will be reaching, and reaching makes smooth steering almost impossible. The cockpit drill covers setting the car up so the wheel falls naturally to hand.
If steering still feels like something you are fighting rather than doing, that usually points to hours rather than technique. Consecutive days of driving build the muscle memory faster than weekly lessons, because you are not relearning the feel each time. A Provisional course is the usual route for someone building this from the beginning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I fail my driving test for crossing my hands?
No. Crossing your hands on the steering wheel is not automatically a fault and the DVSA does not require any particular steering method. Examiners assess whether you keep proper control of the car: whether it goes where you intend, stays in position, and does not strike the kerb or stray across lines. If you cross your hands and the car remains under full control, there is nothing to mark. If crossing your hands causes you to lose control, run out of lock or wander out of position, the fault recorded is the loss of control, not the hand movement itself.
Why is push-pull steering taught if it is not compulsory?
Because it works well, not because it is required. Push-pull keeps both hands on the wheel, lets you apply unlimited lock without repositioning, and holds together when a learner is nervous, which is when technique usually falls apart. It also keeps your arms out of the path of the airbag, which is a genuine safety benefit in a collision. Instructors teach it as a reliable default that will serve you in almost every situation, then usually allow more flexibility on slow-speed manoeuvres where a lot of steering is needed quickly.
Can I use hand-over-hand steering when reversing?
Yes. Slow-speed manoeuvres are exactly where a looser grip is most acceptable, and many instructors actively allow it. Reversing into a bay or turning the car around may need close to full lock quickly, and feeding the wheel strictly can leave you short of steering at the point you need it most. What the examiner is assessing during a manoeuvre is your observation, your control of speed and your final accuracy. Steering method is a means to those ends, not something scored separately.
Is dry steering a driving test fault?
Dry steering, which means turning the wheel while the car is completely stationary, is discouraged but is not usually recorded as a driving fault by itself. It scuffs the tyres and puts unnecessary strain on the steering components, so instructors will generally teach you to get the car creeping before adding lock. It can contribute to a fault indirectly if it means you are not making progress during a manoeuvre or if you are so focused on the wheel that your observations lapse. Aim to keep the car just moving as you steer.
Should I keep my hands at ten to two?
There is no requirement to hold the wheel at any specific clock position, and modern guidance tends to favour a slightly lower grip, around quarter to three, as more comfortable and better placed relative to the airbag. What matters is that both hands are on the wheel when they do not have another job to do, that your grip is relaxed rather than tense, and that your seating position lets you reach the wheel without stretching. GetMyPass arranges courses with DVSA-approved instructors who will set this up with you from the first session.