Driving & Parking Your Hire Van
Driving
Modern vans are fairly easy to drive - but there are still a few important differences if you're mainly used to driving a car:
- No rear-view mirror - make sure your wing mirrors are adjusted before you set off
- Bigger, heavier and slower to stop
- May have blind spots - be careful when overtaking or pulling out
If you keep these points in mind, you should be fine.
Driving using your wing mirrors isn't as hard as you might think, and van mirrors often have handy blind-spot mirrors, too, allowing you to see down the side of your van more easily.
Modern van engines are pretty powerful and they all have power steering and car-style gearboxes too - so the actual driving shouldn't present any problems.
(Make sure you familiarise yourself with the controls and gearbox before setting off)
Once you're on the road, always remember that a van, especially if it's loaded, is:
- Wider
- Longer
- Heavier
- Slower to stop
- Less stable
So take it easy, look further ahead than usual and try to brake and corner more gently.
After all, even if the van can take your Michael Schumacher impressions (and some can!), you don't want to hurl your worldly goods around the back of the van repeatedly, do you?
Parking
Parking a van, especially a big one, can seem a bit intimidating at first.
To start with, you've got no rear-view mirror - meaning you are completely dependent on your wing mirrors or on sticking your head out of the window (this can work well!).
However, it isn't that hard, really.
The trick is simply to take it easy. It really is a case of slow and steady wins the day. If you're going slow enough then you shouldn't do much damage even if you do have a minor bump!
Don't be ashamed to get out and look or to have someone see you back - especially if it's dark or raining, both of which make your wing mirrors much harder to see in.
