Perfect Driving Posture: How to Reduce Aches & Pains

Driving can be therapeutic or highly stressful activity depending on the car, position and mental state. Simple adjustments can make a huge difference. Remember, you are more likely to avoid an accident when you are not bothered with discomfort and fully focused.

Driving can be pain in the back, neck, arms, shoulders and even butt. Many people may not relate these discomforts with their positioning in vehicles. They may blame other health problems they have for these aches. Or they may assume it is how most people feel after a few hours behind the wheel. That is why they may never realize that they can do something about it immediately by making little adjustments to their seats and steering wheels. You will find a few tips and pointers below to help you have painless and enjoyable ride.

correct driving position

Perfect Driving Posture

You may not think that there are certain ways to sit. You may not even be aware that you are doing it all wrong. You get on the vehicle, fiddle with a few buttons and you naturally find the most suitable stance, right? Not really. You need to find the perfect angles that supports the spine, back, hips, head, shoulders, arms and legs. Here they are;

  1. Hip Support: First of all, get in the seat hip first and push it as far as it will go. This will allow you more room right from the start and provide more support for the body.
  2. Back Support: Adjust the back in a way that it is laid at about 100 – 110 degree. This is accepted to be most comfortable position for spine and provide the best back support. You don’t want to be too straight, leaned or forward.
  3. Lumbar Support: Adjust the lumbar support until it just touches the body, rather than pokes it forward. You should feel the pressure evenly from hips towards shoulders. If the vehicle doesn’t come with lumbar support you can obtain a pillow that would fit nicely in the gap over hips and below shoulders.
  4. Neck Support: You need to make sure that you avoid series neck injuries and possible long term suffering. The headrest is there to provide a cushion for the head in case of crashes. And it can reduce neck strains in a day-to-day driving. You should adjust it to a point where its top is level with the top of the head. And you should bring it forward until just about it touches. Never remove it because it is messing with pretty hair arrangements or any other reason.
  5. Feet Positioning: It must be comfortably reaching the brake, clutch and accelerator. It shouldn’t be too far from it as it reduces control. And it shouldn’t be too close, as you don’t want knees high up to distort the posture. Therefore, you should adjust it until you can step on the pedals with the whole foot, not just the fingers
  6. Hips and Knees: You should tilt or raise the front so that hips and knees are almost level. You should be able to achieve this with most car seats. If not, you may need to support the butt with a cushion. The knees should sit on it without a gap. This balance is very important for the hips and to keep rest of the body in shape. When the hips down and knees up you will be slouching forward.
  7. Steering Wheel Positioning: You should tilt and pull steering wheel until you are about 10 – 12 inch away from it. Sitting too close to it can cause series injuries in case of accidents.
  8. Arms: Now arms should be slightly bent and hanging comfortably when you hold the wheel. If they are straight out you will be straining shoulders while steering.
  9. Hands: Keep the hands about 9 and 3 to increase control and decrease tension in the neck. The grip shouldn’t be too tight as this decreases circulation and causes muscle tension.
  10. Seat Height: Keep them as high as you can and still leave sufficient headroom. This way you optimize the vision through windscreen. You should be seeing clearly over the steering wheel, instead of it obstructing the view.

Other Tips

There are other areas you should consider to avoid aches and pains. These tips will will help posture, improve safety and enhance enjoyment. Here are some of them.

  1. Mirrors: Adjust mirrors to cover all the blind spots so you don’t have to stretch neck each time you need to see what is there.
  2. Seat Belt: You should adjust the belt for the safest and most comfortable level. You can adjust its height or get a shoulder strap cushion if it irritates the skin.
  3. Wallet in Back Pocket: Probably it is a good idea to remove thick wallets from pocket before sitting on them. They can cause an unbalance and stress in hips.
  4. Take a Break: As you get tired you will start fidgeting. You should get out and stretch legs instead of twisting and twitching. This may be a chance to catch up with texts and phone calls as well. If you know you will stop every so often you can probably resist checking phone.
  5. Necessities: You should prepare the things you may need like sunglasses or bottle of water and place them at arms length. Twisting body to search around for things can strain it.
  6. New Cars: Don’t only check how nice looking the new car is but check how comfortable, adjustable and ergonomic it is.
  7. Emotions: Being in the right state of mind allows the body to relax and get on with the job in hand. You should avoid aggressive driving and let the car run smoothly on the road.
  8. Passengers: You don’t have to face someone to talk to them, especially when you are driving. And you don’t have to answer every criticism or respond to complaint. Constantly moving head isn’t going to help.
  9. Children: Make sure children are using proper child car carriers and they are properly placed in them. You can read our child car safety seat resources to learn more. This will reduce the need to keep checking if they are alright and allow you to keep straight.
  10. Pets: the same applies to pets too. Here is the resources page for driving safely with pets.

Related Resources

Tips to Relieve Motoring Related Back Pains: Explains how to prevent & reduce them on road trips.