When it comes to cars, in this day and age, especially stateside. Bigger is better. We’ve come to love our luxury SUVs and crossovers and the latest the cybertruck. But, even if you are an experienced driver who has thousands of miles of experience on the open road. Driving a bigger vehicle is still a potential pitfall that you need to be wary of. This is even more the case if you have only recently started driving. There is more that you need to think about to ensure that you stay safe, as well as offering additional protection to other road users at the same time. With this in mind, here are a few pieces of advice that can help out drivers who are thinking about attempting to drive a bigger car, truck or van.
Take Time to Familiarize Yourself with the Controls
You don’t want to drive off in your bigger vehicle only to find that you don’t fully understand the controls. It is often the case that certain parts are in different places. So make sure that you know how it all works. Ideally, you will sit behind the wheel for a while to have a good practice session. Not only is this important from a safety perspective, but it will also help you to feel more comfortable and secure in what you are doing. You can also adjust the seat so that you can access everything comfortably and easily. As well as checking that you have a full view of the road in front of you. If you are buying a new vehicle from a truck dealership, you can use this opportunity to take it out for a test drive. This way, you can ensure it is right for you.
Get to Grips With the Size of the Vehicle
Another useful step involves understanding the dimensions of the vehicle so you don’t risk any damage to buildings or surrounding road infrastructure. When you are only driving a small car, it becomes easy to forget about all the warning signs such as ‘narrow road’ or ‘low bridge’. As they are simply not going to apply to you. However, if you are behind the wheel of a bigger vehicle, it is much more important that you understand these in a higher level of detail so that you can stop or turn around before a bigger accident occurs. It also helps if there are parking sensors on the vehicle as this will prevent any issues from happening when you are parking.
Drive at a Steady Speed
When you first drive a bigger vehicle, it is unlikely that you are going to want to bomb along at a high speed. Instead, you should prioritise steadiness. You may even want to drive a little slower than you normally would. At least for the first few journeys in it. Over time, you can start to build up your confidence and go at a quicker speed. There are even the bigger vehicles that have some sort of speed restriction imposed upon them. So you can only drive at a slower speed anyway. Make sure that you know what your vehicle can do, as well as any additional rules and regulations that you may need to follow.
Take Longer Than You Think to Make Maneuvers
When you are driving a small car, you may well get used to making maneuvers without too much trouble at all. You simply need to signal and move across into another lane. However, the bigger the vehicle, the longer you need to take in order to move it. This is for a couple of reasons.
First of all, you may need extra time to check your blind spot to ensure nothing has crept in at either side of you. You also need to signal to other road users what you are doing as they may need an additional opportunity to get out of the way, slow down, or make any other appropriate adjustments. If you are turning, you are also likely to need more time to slow down before doing this. Essentially, you need to learn to anticipate what is coming in front of you with greater foresight, and this usually comes by having more experience behind the wheel of a bigger vehicle.
Pay Attention to Bad Weather
Another element that can throw a spanner in the works is if the weather starts to take a turn for the worse. In reference to the point above, you are likely to need even more time to make adjustments and maneuvers. So that you ensure that you reduce the risks to yourself and other road users. The surface water on the road can lead to a lot of spray during rain. So you may need to have your windscreen wipers on even more strongly than you would normally to ensure that it is not impairing your vision in any way. In high winds, you should pay attention as vehicles with a long tail can easily get blown off course. Ultimately, it is worth giving yourself even more time to make the journey to ensure that you are not worried about rushing and potentially making the trip even more dangerous.
Pay Attention to the Bigger Blind Spot
One of the hardest parts of driving a longer vehicle such as a truck is that there is a bigger blind spot that you need to pay attention to. One way of dealing with this issue is by using your mirrors on a more regular basis than you otherwise would in a smaller car. This way, you have a better picture of what is going on around you at all times. Making it is less likely that something is going to sneak up on you. This can also be paired with the advice earlier on that you need to give yourself additional time to make maneuvers to ensure that you are taking the blind spot into account.
Give Yourself More Time When Accelerating and Overtaking
Even though you are driving a bigger vehicle, there are still likely to be times that you want to make an overtaking maneuver. In these situations, you need to give yourself more time than you would otherwise as this can take longer in heavier trucks and vans. As well as allowing more time, you should also give plenty of space. Not only is this a safer approach to take. But it is a courtesy to the other road users and it is less likely to cause intimidation.
Get Passengers to Help
While you need to be sure as the driver that you are safe on the road, getting your passengers involved can also be useful. As it ensures that you have an extra pair of eyes. This is especially useful if you need to do any maneuvers such as reversing. They can help to back you up and ensure that you are not in danger of hitting anything. Parking is another time where having someone else there can be so useful in ensuring that you do it as safely and securely as possible.
Driving a bigger vehicle can be tricky when you are not used to it. However, familiarity can go such a long way towards ensuring that you feel safe and secure. This means that you take the time to get used to the vehicle from a stationary position to begin with. As well as ensuring that you know the dimensions to avoid any accidents occuring when you are out on the open road. Ideally, you will then make some shorter trips so you can familiarize yourself with the additional time needed to make maneuvers in a safe way.
Do all this and driving a bigger vehicle is much more likely to be a success!
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