Steering — Connecticut Permit Test

Steering on the Connecticut permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Both hands go on opposite sides of the steering wheel, the left between 8 and 10 o'clock and the right between 2 and 4 o'clock.

Hands opposite each other can turn the wheel without letting go, which is what a sudden swerve needs.

Both hands should be placed on opposite sides of the steering wheel (i.e., left hand between 8 and 10 o'clock and right hand between 2 and 4 o'clock).

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.14

Sharp corners are turned using the hand-over-hand technique.

A sharp corner needs more turn than one grip can give. Crossing the hands is how the wheel keeps moving.

When turning sharp corners, turn the steering wheel using the “hand-over-hand” technique.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.14

After a turn, straighten the wheel by hand rather than letting it slip through your fingers.

A wheel spinning back on its own gets ahead of you, and you are steering a car you have let go of.

When you complete a turn, straighten out the steering wheel by hand. Letting it slip through your fingers could be dangerous.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.14

In the push and pull method one hand pushes the wheel to the 12 o'clock position while the wheel slides through the other hand, so the hands never cross.

Neither hand ever leaves the rim, so the wheel is always under control however far the turn goes.

If this is done correctly, the two hands will never cross and will remain on the wheel at all times.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.14

On the test

Where does the left hand sit on the steering wheel?

Between 8 and 10 o'clock. Hands opposite each other can turn the wheel without letting go, which is what a sudden swerve needs. Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.14: “Both hands should be placed on opposite sides of the steering wheel (i.e., left hand between 8 and 10 o'clock and right hand between 2 and 4 o'clock).”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

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All Connecticut permit topics

Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Connecticut Driver's Manual, published by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.