Tips for Driving a Bigger Vehicle
19-07-2016
From time to time we might need to hire a van either for business or domestic use, but if you have never driven a large vehicle before it can be quite intimidating and in certain situations extra care is needed to avoid accidents.
Here are some safety tips:-
- Familiarise yourself with the gears and the control panel before you drive off.
- Know the size of the vehicle, in particular the weight and height. We may be using roads we drive along in our cars but some roads have weight restrictions and there can be low bridges. It may be necessary to pull into the middle of the road to get under the bridge without scraping the roof.
- Drive steadily and a little slower than you would normal.
- Signal well in advance of any change of road position to give motorist behind you plenty of notice.
- In bad weather extra care is required in larger vehicles. After heavy rain, surface water on the road can cause a lot of spray, which can cause temporary loss of vision so keep the windscreen wipers running.
- In high winds tall vehicles can get blown off course into the path of oncoming traffic, so you may need to oversteer to keep control.
- Be aware that in a larger vehicle you will have a larger blind spot. Use your wing mirrors frequently to keep a watch on vehicles behind you and signal in plenty of time when overtaking or turning off the road.
- In a longer vehicle take care on roundabouts as you may find you straddle two lanes as you go round so be aware of other motorist on your inside lane.
- When overtaking allow plenty of time and space to get past another vehicle as a large van will have less acceleration.
- When turning left in a larger vehicle you may need to swing wide to get round the corner without bumping the curb.
When you next need a larger vehicle come to 7 Ways Rental. We have a variety of different sized vans, to suit your requirements, at very competitive prices, 7 days a week.
Call one of the team on 0161 440 0009