The plight of the person in the passenger seat of a car is a tricky one. The experience is entirely dependent on the whims and skills of the driver, and there’s very little provided to the passenger to change that. Maybe they’ll have access to the radio, or climate controls, or center-stack infotainment screens, or, in the case of some fancy new cars, their own little touchscreens. But, fundamentally, those can’t help a passenger from the physical motions caused by a driver wanting to learn everything they can about oversteer on a wet road, or a driver that only glances out the windshield every few seconds, then yanks the wheel in a panic. For these situations, there’s really only one relatively consistently provided tool for the passenger: the Oh-Shit Handle (or OSH). These have been around for longer than you’d think, and there’s a few common designs and locations for them. Let’s talk about what may be best.
The Oh-Shit Handle (yes, I know some company trademarked that, but I’m not giving into that shameless commercialization), more formally known simply as a “Grab Handle” and less formally known as a Jesus Handle or Chicken Handle or some other similar sort of slightly demeaning name, seems to have a history that extends nearly as far back as the automobile itself, at least in some nascent forms.
Oh, and if you’re skeptical about the authenticity of the “grab handle” name, here’s a nice example from a 1970s Volkswagen Type 3 owner’s manual:
While it doesn’t appear to be present on the very first automobile, the 1769 Cugnot Steam Drag, there do seem to be some very early examples, depending on how generous we are with the definition of an Oh-Shit Handle.
For example, I think we could consider this seat railing on Sylvester Roper’s 1865 steam-powered Quadracycle a nascent form of an OSH:
Was it purposefully designed to give the passenger something to clutch for support as the vehicle drove? Probably, right? Or at least to keep various buttocks from sliding off sideways, but the idea of grabbing onto it for support almost certainly occurred, instinctively. I think we can think of this as a sort of Oh-Shit Handle, and it’s worth noting that this is a Civil War-era Oh-Shit Handle, and I suspect had many similar analogs on horse-drawn vehicles before it.
By the turn of the century, I think Oh-Shit-type handles were becoming not-uncommon on cars, usually in a location on the firewall/dashboard area, like on this 1902 Mors Type Z racing car:
I realize this example is sort of an odd one because there isn’t really a passenger seat, but it is a good picture of a fairly common type of grab handle, one that was in a sort of awkward location, but likely still welcomed, especially in a car as open as this. By the 1920s and 1930s, Oh-Shit Handles, often covered in rope for grip, were becoming more and more common, especially on sporting vehicles.
Over time, the Oh-Shit Handle ended up in a number of locations inside a car, but I think we can generally classify its most common locations into these four categories:
So, we have these four main types: Type 1 includes all dashboard or firewall-mounted handles, Type 2 is for any roof/over door-type handle, Type 3 is for handles mounted on the A-pillar or any sort of windshield-pillar mounted handle, most commonly found on larger trucks or SUVs, where they also can assist in entry and exit, and the Type 4 handles are a sort of catchall category that includes any handles mounted low, alongside the seat or on the transmission tunnel, that sort of thing.
Here’s some examples of each category:
VW has long been a fan of the Type 1 dashboard handle, though, ironically, they moved it from the Type 1 position on their Type 1 Sedan (Beetle) in 1973, moving it to the Type 2 position over the door.
Type 2s are by far the most common on contemporary cars. They sometimes flip down, and even Jeeps without tops use this location, with Oh-Shit Handles strapped to the roll bars.
These Type 3 ones, as I mentioned before, are most often found on high trucks and SUVs, because they do give you something to grab onto to get in and out.
The Type 4 category is perhaps the most varied, including such oddballs as the Subaru Brat’s in-bed-seat terror grips and also the purposeful-seeming handles found on sports cars like Porsches.
As for which of these handles does the best job, I think. that’s worthy of discussion. I’m pretty sure I’ve been a passenger in cars with all of these types of handles, and I think all have merits and downsides; the Type 2s can work as coat hangers if needed, and can be placed in the rear seats as well quite easily, something that’s not as readily do-able with the other categories.
The A-pillar ones have their dual uses and can be in a good location to grab if you’re, say, standing on a running board. The Type 4 ones I’ve encountered seem to show up on the most extreme sort of grab-handle duty, like on-track and off-road machines, which says a lot for their ability to keep a passenger calm and in place.
But what do you think? I feel like we need to discuss this, because, like all details of cars, it’s important, dammit.
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My current DD has TWO handles for the passenger: a Type 2 over the door and a Type 4 as part of the center console.
Over the door, always. I often hang on to them because I just find it comfortable, then people think I’m judging their driving.
My brother just got a new mustang, it has none besides the door handle itself. How do you not give a friggin Mustang an oh shit handle?
I like the over door as a passenger. A driver I want the eject button when the passenger hits the invisible break, steering wheel, or generally complains. You asked for a ride, deal with it or I am hitting this button. 🙂
I vote for the over door handle. I was in the passenger side rear seat of a 2000 jeep cherokee that my friend was convinced he knew how to do a j-turn in. We had 5 people in it and he proceeded backwards down a hill and yanked the wheel and the e-brake. There was literally no loss of traction and the jeep flipped onto its roof like a scene out of a movie. Holding that handle tight kept me firmly in my seat and i honestly had a pretty good time. Don’t do j-turns in suv’s if you value the integrity of the upper half of the vehicle.
My 58 Austin Healey project has a type 1 handle diagonally on the dash. It has no seat belts so that’s it.
It makes sense that grab bars started in the early days, probably to deal with the rough roads of that time. My tractor has a roll bar and roof set up. I usually grab the front support with one hand while driving across the field to steady myself.
I always feel bad whenever I give someone a ride in my ’85 Ford LTD while driving spiritedly. There are no oh-shit handles whatsoever and I warn passengers not to hold onto the handle on the door panels because the back of the door panels are basically cardboard. My car has a 425 HP V8, fat tires, and basically a road race suspension underneath and I’m sure Ford never in a million years expected it to pull the Gs in a corner that it does.
The location itself doesn’t matter but it must be placed exactly 1 elbow to knuckle distance away from where the passenger’s arm naturally rests on the window sill, usually type 2 in cars and type 3 in trucks.
An ex-friend disliked my old Econoline for this. It had no grab handles, and the passenger window is big enough that with your elbow resting on the bottom sill, you cannot hold the top or front edge.
My old Isuzu Trooper had Type 4 for the passenger and a mix of 2 and 3 for driver and passenger, my current 4Runner has Type 2 and Type 3.
I do actually use the oh shit handle for some things in the 4Runner, and it’s the Type 3. So that gets my vote for use cases where you’re trying to keep your head from bouncing into the windshield or steering wheel.
I wish Toyota put something for the passenger to hold onto on the 3rd gen 4Runners, as the nearest thing to grab is the emergency brake, and that’s not something I really want them holding onto…
So Type 3 gets my vote. But “all of the above except Type 1” is a close second.
Type 1 is where you will find it in most SxS, but I argue that its the most dangerous because instead of something soft and uniform for your head or knees to crash into you get hard plastic that juts out. The Land Cruiser way is Type 2 with type 3. You get Type 3 to get in and type 2 to hold on to. The genius of this method is being able to use the drivers type 3 to support your body in really rough terrain. One hand on the wheel, the other on the handle, really locks you in.
Jeep TJ puts it in Location 1. Thus TJ has spoken, let it be the law in all the land.
Any designer that puts it on the A-pillar goes straight to jail. Over the door or nothing at all.
I do think having it as a “booster” to get in or out is useful, though. Why not have both A-pillar and over-door?
A good solution. Especially since over the door generally flips out of the way so not intrusive. I just find it really comfortable to hol the over the door handle while riding as passenger and am disappointed when it’s on the A pillar.
If it’s for ingress purposes, what makes you think someone can reach over the door if they need help to reach the A-pillar? “Over the door only” fails to help people who need it.
I believe the design, location and installation of OSHs is administered by OSHA in the US.
Oh Shit Handle Association.
We had probably a dozen different Bugs and Buses as I was growing up.
When I was about four years old I loved to stand up and look out the front window of our bugs as my Mom drove. (Before seat belts) It drove her nuts because she felt it was not safe. But my Dad thought it was funny and he would drive a bit recklessly and nuts when we did it.
Like getting air over railroad crossings nuts. So imagine how pissed my Mom was when her first two boys broke the damn windshields by smacking our heads against the glass on a “hard” landing….Seriously, my old man must have broke 3-4 windshields doing that shit before seat belts came along.
In later years my Mom would tell my Dad that her 4 boys were all brain damaged and nuts from smacking our heads a hundred times each. She may have a point there.
(now I know why my wife didn’t want to risk having kids with me)
We also did the stand up thing in his old SAABs but apparently that glass was tougher because we never broke the glass smacking our heads.
Good times. Thanks Dad….
I actually got launched out the open sunroof of my dad’s Beetle when he slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid a wreck in front of us then slammed into the curb. We were traveling down a hill at the time and, as usual, I was standing on the front passenger seat. I don’t recall bouncing off the hood or sitting up on the sidewalk bleeding from a bunch of cuts and scrapes. The concussion helped with that.
Holy shit. Glad you are ok. Concussions are good at times. They can prevent PTSD from setting in later.
Our old Buses had no A/C so we would all stand up and let the wind blow us cool. We would also play “guillotine” or “NAZI” torture session with the crank sunroof which would freak my Mom out, she’d yell that if she had to stand on the brakes fast someone was gonna end up with a broken neck. Or worse.
One time our cat jumped out of our bus sunroof on the Interstate. He rolled for about 100 yards and then ran off into a field. We just backed up the bus and grabbed his ass. Not injured at all but he never pulled that crap again.
Good times.
That’s what I call a catapult!
Cat’a-pult!
Bringing my dog Molly home from the shelter when we first got her, she tumbled out of the window on a left turn. Just sat there in the road looking confused while I stopped, ran into the intersection, and grabbed her.
The previous two posts are a court-ordered PSA. Don’t make us show you the gore films!
I used to stand on the seat of my mom’s Spitfire and hang onto the windshield header. I’m sure the statute of limitations has worn off so I won’t be getting her in trouble by sharing that.
I never got to the full standing position in my mom’s Pinto wagon, but I did kneel on the front seat in order to see out of the front. My only seat belt was my mom’s arm flung across my body any time she had to make a sudden stop
The old man would also do a sudden hard “brake check” for fun too.
Or stuff a kid or two in the trunk if he was pissed off enough.
Good thing the child abuse laws were different in the 1960s.
Probably a good thing that he is gone now. Really.
But did you ever ride in the little parcel cubby behind the rear seats (more-or-less on top of the engine compartment) in your folks’ Bugs? Cool kids knew that was the el-primo spot.
Yes I did. Many times. On long trips as a kid my Mom would stick the babies back there and they would fall asleep really fast. This was before anyone ever thought about child car seats though.
We had a Squareback when I was a kid and used to like to ride in “the way back” when we had the opportunity to do so. If I ever was in a Bug owned by the parents of a friend, I’d try to ride in the parcel cubby if they’d allow it.
In hindsight, it’s a bit of a surprise I made it to my mid-50s.
A low mounted one between the passenger seat and the door allows one to silently OSH without the driver noticing you’re doing it. Any other position is a vote of no confidence in the skills of the driver, which some drivers do not appreciate. Type 2 at least give you the plausible excuse of “I’m stretching my arm” while using it.
If a car has more than 2 of these, it should also come with 5 point racing harnesses, because sh!t is gonna get weird.
My E-Type had a version of #1, it was mounted at an angle right at the junction of the dash and door, it was easy to reach too. My MINI has a type #2, which is rarely used but my Mini only has them on the doors. However, they are screwed into the sheet metal of the door, not just into the cardboard door card. A type #3 is essential on these giant pickup trucks, that and maybe a ladder!
The Type 3 is possibly the most useful day-to-day, but when the shit hits the fan, the Type 2 is the go-to OSH. Swinging precariously from the frame of the car indicates you are truly in some shit. I’m skeptical of the structural integrity of the flip-down type; might as well commit to a robust mounted Type 2 OSH if you’re going to bother at all.
Would a door armrest a Type 4? I’ve seen them used as OSHs, but they’re difficult to grip, and on certain cars, the doorcard might give flex that dissolves the confidence an OSH handle should instill. Just don’t grab the e-brake!
I was actually just wondering the same thing my FJ has handles on the door panels so would that be considered 4 also?
That’s the distinction! A beefy, structural handle on the door is good for grabbing cross-body to stay off the center console, but the door grab on most cars that are barely deep enough for your fingers wouldn’t qualify. You’d grab it if you needed, but your hand will just slip off and the driver will have to elbow you off the stickshift. In absence of any OSHs, grip both sides of the seat and pull tightly.
Thank you for bringing up beefy door handles, because these have always been my favorite. Specifically, pistol grip-style handles at the end of the armrest that you can wrap your fingers all the way around.
Examples: S2000, Stinger, 4th gen Legacy, 7th gen Celica, many BMWs (they seem to have abandoned them on the G20 3 series, boo).
They’re right at the passenger’s fingertips, so no need to shoot an arm across the cabin when it hits the fan. And they’re ergonomically comfortable enough to hold onto even when you’re not puckered. So wrapping your hand around it doesn’t immediately signal to the driver that you don’t trust them. And they’re a pleasure to use to open and close the door, as opposed to those little fingertip indents (though you sacrifice some leverage with them being closer to the hinge). I imagine they’re more costly to manufacture than a simpler door card, but seem totally worth it to me.
The others are just too far to reach, and swing-down type 2 OSHs are too damn flimsy. Type 4 on the center console is probably second place, though it’s a bit close to the shifter and still a reach.
Save the beefy door handles!
Having an Fj I have both 2 and 3 so both? Hah and even the dash sticks out a bit so almost have one also.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Type 2 for me, though as a lover of convertibles, I can also allow type 4 as a valid alternative. I have never seen a type 1 that didn’t require me to lean forward at an annoying angle, and 3 is just a worse version of 4 that also serves to block visibility.
I feel like if you want to brace yourself, handles at abdomen height, slightly forward of your natural seated position make the most sense. So I’m a type 4 fan.
Handles that involve me lurching my entire body forward until my face is 12″ away from where the airbag could emerge is frankly, useless. A-pillar (Type 3) and dash (Type 1) handles may be useful for ingress and egress, but they suck for oh-shit moments. The classic over-door (type 2) works well enough.
Type one allows for a solid two-handed grip for the “Oh shittiest” of moments.
I’ve only ever used the over-door ones, but that seems like the best overall position, because they can be useful for other things, like hanging clothes. I can see those A-pillar ones being super handy in a giant truck, however.
I would say the A-pillar is a great handle, especially for getting in and out of the vehicle and the angle of attach on your Oh-Shitness. But, it’s also on the A-pillar and I think it has more negative effect on visibility than positive effect for a speed-hump launch.
Early dodge vans had a entire pad spread across the dash for easy grip.
https://images.app.goo.gl/ckdqkWzL99wwncWeA
My 1998 S-10 had two for the passenger. One above the glove box and one above the door. Came in handy a couple of times as I bought it when I was 15
Why isn’t the in-door armrest location included? Seems like that’s the most common of all.
I’ve never thought to grab one of those in an “oh shit” moment. Those are just to close the doors, aren’t they?
I think any Oh Shit handle has to be attached to the frame, not the door. In a maximum oh-shitness you may not even have a door to grab…
Eh I would say this is a variation of 4. If being on the center console counts as 4, the door panel is the same for the opposite hand.