A van is a useful vehicle – it might be that you want a van to be able to do your job, or you might want to hire a van as a one off from somewhere like this van hire Bristol based company Autolyne to help you with something like moving house. Whether you have just bought your own van to use or you are hiring one, making sure that you are safe on the road is the most important thing to do before you start it up and get going.
Here are some safety tips to make sure that you and others can stay safe…
Get to know the van first of all. You should get familiar with the controls and where they are, from the windscreen wipers to the air conditioning. Knowing these things before you set off is important as you don’t want to be scrambling around looking for certain controls when you are on the road, especially if you need to use them quickly!
You also need to make sure that you are comfortable driving the van, and that you are in the right driving position. Spend some time adjusting your seat and also your mirrors to make sure that you can comfortably reach everything and also to give you the best sight of the mirrors.
When you come to load the van, you need to make sure that you are not doing it incorrectly as this can be dangerous. First of all, you must not go over the weight that the van is legally allowed to carry, so do check this. You should also distribute the weight around evenly, don’t put lots of heavy items in one area.
When you are driving, you should be aware of the size difference between a car and a van and be aware that when the van is full it has a longer stopping distance, even when travelling at lower speeds.
Giving the extra braking distance keeps you and others around you safe. You also need to be aware of the larger size of the vehicle when you are driving and parking – so when you are overtaking a vehicle make sure that you factor in the additional room that you need.
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