# Is it TRUE?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [August 28, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780 "2008-08-28T05:01:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dkg2utoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@dkg2utoo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dkg2utoo)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780/1 "2008-08-28T05:01:42Z")

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Are cars designed to drift to the right when you let go of the steering wheel on a flat road at moderate speed?

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**Author:** ![JayWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@JayWB](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JayWB)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780/2 "2008-08-28T06:38:21Z")

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No.

Cars typically drift to the right because the road is not flat, it’s crowned to help drain the rain water.

If you’re on a truly flat road and your car drifts in any direction it needs the alignment checked.

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**Author:** ![mshugna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@mshugna](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mshugna)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780/3 "2008-08-28T11:36:56Z")

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On a truely flat road cars should track straight…mine does…but many roads have a slight crown.

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**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780/4 "2008-08-28T11:42:38Z")

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No. Cars are not designed to drift to one side or the other. On a flat, straight road a car should track straight ahead. The problem is, most roads are “crowned,” or higher in the center, to promote drainage of rain water, and GRAVITY will pull the car toward the shoulder of the road.

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**Author:** ![dkg2utoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@dkg2utoo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dkg2utoo)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780/5 "2008-08-28T13:48:14Z")

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Whew! I hoped a properly aligned car would drive straight on a flat road. I was told that  
the “reasoning” behind this “design” is supposedly to help avoid head on collisions in the event the driver falls asleep. A to-the-right drift would land the car in the ditch instead of into oncoming traffic. None of this sounded correct to me.  
Thanks for the truth.

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**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-it-true/18780/6 "2008-08-28T14:39:35Z")

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It sounds absurd to me. Design a car that way to avoid an accident…but ONLY when the driver falls asleep on a straight one lane road. It’s void if the road has curves…or there’s more then one lane. Someone just came up with this without putting the least of bit of thought into it.