Skills You Need to Drive an SUV

Are you the one who generally drives hatch-backs and sedans?

Imagine traveling with 7 people in an SUV where you being the most experienced driver in the group, had to drive an SUV.

Are you planned? If not, then most of your journey, you will go by saying to yourself- “it will be alright.”

You don’t want to get caught in a panic drive. Do you?

To save you from embarrassment and stressful driving, we are here with few skills that can help you drive an SUV.

These are:

Get comfortable and familiar

Before driving any car, get comfortable and familiar with it. While you are planning on driving an SUV for a long trip, before that, you might want to practice driving it in an open space. It can be ground or an empty parking lot. Also, you can drive both during daytime and at night, and in different weather conditions where you get familiar with speed, brakes, etc. Note, if you are renting an SUV, you can always take a quick drive to the premises of your car rental company. Get acquainted with the car rental before taking it on the road.

Avoid Overloading

An SUV is significantly heavyweight. You would not want it to roll over. Thus, applying physics, it is recommended to not raise an SUV’s center of gravity. More cargo and passengers are likely to shift the center of gravity. Next time you plan to add a lot of heavy stuff, think twice. Avoid using the roof rack unless necessary. Overloading also causes brake wear and tear, overheats the tires, and can increase the risk of a blowout.

Drive Slow and Safe

An SUV is no sports car. It is not meant for rash driving with increased speed and sharp turns. That would be the last thing to do while driving an SUV. Be very very careful while taking risky turns. Slow down, drive smoothly, and stay safe. When it’s snowing or raining, take extra caution on curvy and hilly roads.

Avoid Sudden Breaks

Sudden breaks are not recommended in any vehicle, but it is strictly prohibited in an SUV. Due to its heavyweight, the SUV requires a greater distance after applying the breaks. Also, these types of cars take more time to come to a complete stop after hitting the breaks.

Be Attentive about Smaller Vehicles around

This one is important because it can help prevent cars from rear-ending you. Why? That's because while your driving position in an SUV gives you good road visibility, it can be hard for drivers of smaller cars to see around you. Those behind you, for example, may not have much of a warning that you are going to stop. Increasing your following distance thus can result in less-sudden stops.

Grip-On Steering Wheel

Most of the SUV accidents occur due to rollover crashes due to hasty and careless turns. Keep a firm grip on the steering wheel and drive as smooth as possible. Do not move steering too much to cause any trouble.

Belt on Always

Don't forget to use your seatbelt, especially when you are in the driver’s seat of an SUV. It can be a life-saving tip for you. Interestingly, sometimes even in the worst car rollover cases, passengers are left safe because they buckled up their seat belts properly.

Proper Position of Mirrors

Driving as an SUV means driving at a slight height. It increases the chances of you missing things lower to the ground. But don't worry, you can always position the mirrors appropriately to minimize your chance of hitting something unseen. Take extra caution when backing. You can also use back cameras to avoid any confusion.

With these tips, you can master the skill of driving an SUV. This list is not limited to the above-mentioned points. You always learn more about how to ride an SUV by talking to different people around you.