Very rarely does it happen that my sister misses her cab for the office, most of the times it's just the transport supervisor calling her to remind to reach on time to the cab stand (everyday). But when she does not, it's my time to step in the need of the hour to drop her all the way to Gurgaon. She works in McKinsey, one of the best consulting firms present, though I found it a shitty company. Not because I couldn't clear the interview, but because it was just plain shitty.
Nevertheless, coming back to Delhi is a nice drive, thanks to the broad and clear highways of Gurgaon. Though one can find a lot traffic at office hours but by the time I drop her the office hours are almost over. As I was driving back in my wagon r, I overtook this Honda city coming in her lane from the right by a few inches, which was mainly because some fool driving in front of me braked in the middle of the road for no reason. But such a sharp overtake didn't really go well with the girl driving the Honda city, with her overtaking me sharply, and then started the "we don't show it, but it's obvious" race between us. Yeah, I know there is not much of a competition between wagon r and city but I have always believed that it's the driver, not the car. So moving from philosophy, I thought ok, she might be ahead of me on straight roads but I will get her on turns. Surprisingly, I was wrong. This girl knew how to take turns at a good speed, even where to stop the car at red light if to take a right afterwards, and that is, at the extreme left to increases the circumference of your arc, which doesn't let traffic to clog (people good at maths and/or good drivers would understand this). She was even driving with one hand placed at the top of the steering wheel, unlike many other female drivers. And yes, placing your hand on top of the steering wheel also matters since it decreases the torque of the steering wheel, thus increasing the stability of the car at high speeds (again, people good at maths and/or good drivers would understand this). For those who do not, read the next paragraph, or just skip it if it's too mind boggling.
So basically torque is the turning force or in simpler words force which turns an object about its axis.
Numerically, T = Fr sin(theta), where
T = torque of the object
F = force with which the object is rotated
r = length of the object (radius of steering wheel in our case)
theta = angle between force and the object from where it is rotated
Let's suppose you rotate the steering wheel with the same force while placing your hand on the top as well as on the side of the steering wheel. The radius of the steering wheel is not going to change. So only difference that can make is theta. Now start making a 3-D diagram in you mind. The steering wheel is tilted. Place your hand on top of the steering wheel from where it will be rotated. Make an imaginary vertical line coming from the top to the steering wheel to the point where your hand is placed. Now make an angle between this imaginary line and the tilted steering wheel. This makes an angle of about 135 degree (taken for simpler calculation), which is nothing but (180 - 45) degree. Hence T = Fr sin (180 - 45) = Fr sin 45, since sin(180 - x) = sin x. And since sin 45 = 1/2, T = Fr/2. Now place your hand on the side of the steering wheel with an imaginary line coming from the side of the steering wheel to the point where your hand is placed. Make an angle between this imaginary line and the side of the steering wheel from where it will be rotated. This makes an angle of about 90 degree. Hence in this case T = Fr sin 90 = Fr, since sin 90 = 1. Certainly Fr is greater than Fr/2, which shows that when the hand is placed on the top of the steering wheel, it's torque is minimum which is essential at high speeds since you don't want to unnecessarily rotate the steering wheel and keep it in one place as possible.
Coming back from mathematics, what I am trying to say is, that girls are driving really well these days and not just on open roads but they also know how to dodge traffic. A few days ago I was talking to my sister and her friend and in random conversation got to know how one of their friends can give guys butterflies in the stomach by her driving skills. Last year's Polo R Cup (official racing in Volkswagen Polo car held in Chennai) featured a girl participant among other 19 guys, it's a start though. So next time you see a car zoom past by yours, it could very well be female driven.
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