Sometimes it is easy to forget that not everyone has the same driving experience as you. Don’t be one of the (too) many statistics because you’re in a hurry or you think the vehicle in front is taking too long to manoeuvre around an obstacle.
People who drive for business (such as van drivers) spend a lot of time behind the wheel and it’s easy to become complacent about road safety, but when you think that if you are driving at around 30mph and take your eyes off the road for TWO seconds, you’ve travelled around 90 feet.
That’s the length of two double-decker buses, when your concentration is somewhere other than the road and what is on it. I’ll let that sink in for a few more seconds. Scary, right? It’s wise then, to familiarise yourself with the vehicle and the various controls and features, especially if you are progressing from a car to a van for the first time.
All vehicles are not created equal
The first thing you might just notice (hopefully) is the lack of a rear view mirror, for obvious reasons. You do usually have two pretty decent wing mirrors though and most will have blind spot mirrors on them as well. Get used to not looking over your shoulder for the blind spot. However, Ford, those guys we mentioned in a previous post, have been working on this problem and have come up with a smart mirror – it looks like a rear view mirror but in fact it’s using live images from a camera at the rear of the vehicle.
It has features to adjust the brightness depending upon time of day and also gives more viewing area than a conventional rear view mirror. A handy device to have, especially if you’re not too familiar with the width of your van yet.
Brakes are also something that will react differently to a car; especially if the load is light or no load at all. You might find them a little bit sharp – take your time and you’ll get used to them soon enough. Which leads quite nicely into – speed. Vans are subject to different speed limits, depending if you’re on a dual or single carriageway, but usually 10mph slower than for cars. Remember, just because it is the speed limit, it doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive at that speed in all conditions. Drive to the conditions of the road and arrive safely. If you are transitioning from a car to a van, you might want to ensure you’re adequately insured by completing this quick 3-minute form.