When the seat is moved forward, should the reference point be advanced or delayed?
3 Answers
Move back, the reference point should be advanced; if the person moves forward, the reference point should be slightly delayed. Try to adjust your position as best as possible. Here are the detailed explanations: 1. Correct driving posture: Tilt the seat back at an angle of 100~120 degrees to reduce lumbar pressure, ensuring the lumbar support wraps well around the waist and fits the lumbar spine perfectly without any gaps. When holding the steering wheel at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, the arms should naturally bend at 120 degrees. Press the brake pedal with your right foot, keeping the knee slightly bent. 2. Driving precautions: Focus on preventing fatigue driving. Fatigue reduces the driver's judgment ability, slows reaction time, increases operational errors, leading to untimely and inaccurate gear shifts, and in some cases, even brief episodes of sleep, resulting in loss of vehicle control. Therefore, when feeling fatigued, the driver should promptly leave the road, stop in a safe area to rest, and only continue driving after alleviating fatigue.
As an experienced driver who often accompanies beginners during practice, I believe that adjusting the seat too far forward narrows the field of vision and requires anticipating reference points earlier. Being closer to the windshield means objects like curbs in the side mirrors during parallel parking appear sooner in the view. Once, after adjusting my seat, I ended up crossing the line while reversing—later realizing that moving the seat 10 cm forward meant judging the yellow line's position in the mirror a fifth of a second earlier. Additionally, sitting too upright can cause fatigue, so it's best to set the seat position before long drives and test steering timing with fixed reference points. Remember, the adjustment range depends on height differences—shorter individuals need to be more sensitive to these changes.
A driver with 20 years of experience shares some thoughts on this. Moving the seat forward inevitably requires anticipating reference points earlier—the principle is simple: when you lean forward, your eyes get closer to the reference point, naturally compressing your perspective. It’s like how you normally wait until the lower edge of the rearview mirror aligns with the line before reversing into a parking spot, but now you have to turn the wheel as soon as you approach the line. The most noticeable situation I’ve encountered is starting on a slope—when the seat is forward, the front of the car feels far from the stop line, but in reality, it’s almost touching it upon closer inspection. My advice is to take some time to practice and get a feel for it after adjusting your seat, especially paying attention to changes in visual references like the wiper nodes and hood markers. Also, don’t forget that your legs are closer to the brake pedal, so you’ll need to adjust your pedal pressure accordingly.
