Why Driving Backwards Is So Hard

Full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFwfexZstO4 The difficulty of driving backwards has almost nothing to do with the direction you’re facing and everything to do with the fact that you steer using the front wheels. When driving forwards, a car goes in the direction the front wheels are pointed. And when driving backwards, the car goes where the back wheels are pointed. Simple! But the difference is that going forwards, the direction of travel is determined by the same wheels you steer with, so you just point them where you want to go, and that’s where you go, the back wheels follow automatically. However, when driving backwards, the direction of travel is determined by the back wheels but you steer with the front wheels. So rather than just pointing the front wheels where you want to go, you have to point them in the direction that will get the BACK wheels to point in the direction you want to go – it’s an additional level of separation before the car does what you want. And in fact, if you don’t make any corrections, then over time the back wheels point farther and farther away from the direction you want to go: instead of following the front wheels, they run away! Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute! Created by Henry Reich

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