How do steering wheel locks work?

[didds]

by steering wheel locks I mean this sort oif thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7VbSYywv7Q

how do they "work". I'd presume they'd stop the wheel from turning, but that just seems to provide a bar across the wheel that whilst maybe not convenient , for most normal steering purposes would just rotate with the wheel ?

I'm clearly missing something!

cheers

didds

[swill453]

They stop the steering wheel from turning completely, they will hit against the door or window or seat or driver's legs. They are also highly visible to anyone seeing the vehicle being driven with it still in place.

They're fairly defeatable, but may in some cases persuade the thief to steal the car next to yours rather than yours.

Scott.

[bungeejumper]

The bar will collide with the door or the dashboard, or with the driver's knees, so the rotation stops. There also used to be locks that would extend down to lock up the clutch pedal, so on a modern car you couldn't even start it. Not so great on automatics, though.

BJ