Van Pools Blog

Andy Bawden

By Andy Bawden
VPSI Vanpool Safety Instructor

Now that you’ve set your clocks back an hour, you’ve gained and hour of daylight drive time in the morning. You also lost an hour of evening daylight for the drive home. This grand tradition was started to save electricity during summer months by extending evening hours and allowing school kids more opportunity to go to school in the daylight. It can affect drive times and you need to change with the times.

As fall makes its way towards winter the days will become shorter until the third week in December. Until then the days will become shorter and daylight will be limited. As a vanpool driver you need to make sure you are well rested before driving and prepare yourself for other challenges.

Other changes and adjustments that will need to be made:

• Adjust your tires’ pressure to recommended levels found on the driver’s door post.
• Approach intersections carefully and be prepared to stop or slow down.
• If you stop – stop before the limit line to allow other drivers and pedestrians a clear and unobstructed pathway.
•  Limit the number of lane changes.
• If you change lanes – signal well ahead of time.
• Increase the following distance.
• Maintain a safe and consistent speed.

Andy Bawden is a Vanpool Safety Instructor and is now a guest contributor to VPSI’s Commuter Chronicle newsletter and van-pools.com blog. He is certified by the National Safety Council as a Defensive Driving Instructor. He was previously VPSI’s Loss Prevention and Vanpool Safety Manager.