 A steering wheel also called a driving wheel or a hand wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles hand vessels ships and boats. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass production automobiles, as well as buses, light and heavy trucks, and tractors. A steering wheel is the part of the steering system that is manipulated by the driver, the rest of the steering system responds to such driver inputs. This can be through direct mechanical contact as in recirculating ball or rack and pinion steering gears, without or with the assistance of hydraulic power steering, HPs, or as in some modern production cars with the assistance of computer controlled motors, known as electric power steering.