Soon after confirming a ban on hidden door handles in cars active from January 1, 2027, the government of China has followed up with multiple other announcements. Among these is a new vehicle safety testing protocol meant to ban all yoke-shaped steering wheels from the streets.
Tesla was among the first proponents of the yoke-style wheel, putting it into its Model S and refusing to provide an alternative for several years. The company’s reasoning was that a lighter, racing-style steering wheel doesn’t obstruct the dash as much as the traditional wheel does while also being cheaper to produce. In a world where self-driving and drive-by-wire technologies are gradually becoming commonplace, the old-school steering wheel may end up being a relic of the past, it argued.
The Chinese authorities who probed into the safety of these new steering wheel designs beg to differ, however. According to the press release, studies have found that the wheel is supposed to soak in some of the impact energy during a collision. This is especially important in emerging situations when the airbag triggers, inflates and then eventually deflates, leaving the person behind the wheel vulnerable again.
A new safety test protocol was designed to assess the safety of the wheel in a car, with 10 specific, scientifically established pressure points that it is supposed to have in order to be safe. Any non-round steering wheel is guaranteed to fail this test, so it won’t be acceptable for use in China since Jan. 1, 2027. All automakers still producing non-standard steering wheels will be given a year or so to adapt to this new standard.
China isn’t alone in criticizing the yoke-style wheel. Consumer Reports has long since pointed out its questionable utility and safety in the Tesla Model S (see the video above). Particularly in situations when fast, sweeping steering inputs are required without taking your eyes off the road, the fiddly yoke may prove dangerous or even fatal.
