Steering technique — Delaware Permit Test

Steering technique on the Delaware permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Place your hands on opposite sides of the wheel, the left hand between 8 and 10 o'clock and the right between 2 and 4 o'clock.

Hands close together at the top leave you no room to turn without letting go.

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

Delaware Driver Manual, p.113

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

Shuffling the wheel a little at a time on a tight corner leaves the car swinging wide into the other lane.

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

Delaware Driver Manual, p.113

When you finish a turn, straighten the wheel by hand; letting it slip through your fingers could be dangerous.

A wheel spinning back freely can overshoot and send the car toward the curb.

When you complete a turn, straighten out the steering wheel by hand.

Delaware Driver Manual, p.113

On the test

Where does the Delaware manual say to place your hands on the steering wheel?

Left 8 to 10, right 2 to 4 o'clock. Hands close together at the top leave you no room to turn without letting go. Delaware Driver Manual, p.113: “Both hands should be placed on opposite sides of the steering wheel (e.g., 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 Delaware permit topics

Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Delaware Driver Manual, published by the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.