Safety Tips for Driving a Full-Size Van
I panicked the day that I realized that having twins meant that we would no longer fit in our minivan. Several years ago I had to drive a full size van for work and honestly I had never really gotten comfortable with it. I was sure that making the switch to a full size van as a daily driver was going to be a huge adjustment.
One of my biggest fears was safety. I have always been terrified by stories of vehicles driving over small children and I know how easily accidents can happen. We saw first-hand how easily accidents can happen when a neighbor of ours drove over a little boy in his driveway a few years back. It was a terrifying experience, one that fortunately ended well but I have never forgotten that.
Making the switch to a full size van when we bought our Nissan NV 3500 was necessary but still intimidating. Now that I’ve been driving it for a while I have some essential safety tips that have helped ta feel a lot safer.
Back Up Camera – I knew when we bought our van that the first thing I wanted to do was install a back-up camera. We considered buying one with a back-up camera already installed but I didn’t love the one that came with the van. Rosen helped us out and put in a great back-up camera that I’ve been very impressed with and has made me feel a whole lot safer driving a van this big.
Rosen’s division Echomaster makes vehicle specific back-up cameras for easier installation that keep the OEM look. We went with a high mount camera that replaced the brake light above the rear doors and gives a wide field of view — the camera that Nissan installs on this vehicle mounts above the license plate so visibility wasn’t great. The camera is adjustable so you can easily point it closer to the bumper or aim it further away. We have ours pointed close to the bumper so I can keep an eye out for kids.
In order to see the image produced by the back-up camera, Rosen also installed a rear view mirror with a 4.3″ screen in it. I was pretty amused when I saw the way this works as no one can see the screen but the driver. To everyone else, it just looks like a mirror. It works really well!
Stay Alert – This is kind of basic and it’s always important to stay alert while driving any car but it’s extra important when driving a full size van that weighs several tons. Avoid driving if you are tired and take frequent breaks on longer trips.
Walk Around the Van – Ever since my neighbor’s little boy was run over in their driveway, I’ve been extra cautious while driving. I’m in the habit of walking all the way around the car before I drive away. This technique prevented a close call with one of my sons as a toddler. I had jumped in the car to run a quick errand. I realized I forgot my sunglasses so instead of backing down the driveway I went back into the house. When I got out of the car I was startled to see my toddler standing behind my car. He had decided he wanted to come with me so he was walking behind the car to get to the passenger side door. It scares me to death how close we came to an accident. He was safely inside the house when I left so I didn’t even think about looking around my vehicle. Now I’m in the habit of ALWAYS walking all the way around my car before moving it. You never know when that habit will save a life.
Back-up Sensors – As an extra precaution for backing, Rosen also set up their Park Alert back up sensors. These four sensors were mounted in the bumper and beep progressively faster just in case I miss something in the camera.
Video – I’ve never thought of this a being a safety feature but now that Rosen installed it, I am convinced that it is. It definitely minimizes the noise and other distractions from the kids while I am driving. Rosen installed two X10 10.2” ceiling mount systems in our Nissan NV 3500. This means that the boys AND the girls can both watch their own movies and be entertained. They all have wireless headphones running on different channels which match which movie they are watching. As an extra bonus, there are even some preinstalled video games built in.
Go here for more info about Rosen products or information about where to find them.
Check out the video below to see all the safety features in our Nissan NV 3500:
Do you have any tips for driving a large vehicle safely?
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Thanks for your follow up post! I ended up getting an S with a backup camera installed aftermarket, but I’m seriously regretting it. For a little over 3K more, I had a deal for a year newer SV with upgrades. The reason I feel the SV would have been better for me is because it has power adjusting seats that also lift up higher. As a short driver, I’ve always needed to move my seat forward to reach the pedals, and the manual seat adjustment in the S is good for that. But the seat doesn’t lift up at all, and I can only see half of the hood. If I sit on a pillow, I have much better vision, but I’m kind of embarrassed about that; I’ve driven minivans (some more truck like than others) and cars without ever needing a pillow, but now I will be driving on one because the seat doesn’t lift 🙁 I have to learn safety tips for gauging the distance of the nose on this beast…I am still practicing backing up into parking spots, as I think that’s probably my best bet to get out safely (unless I can drive through 2 spots) but I’m not good at it at all, and I still will need to learn to judge distance of the car in front of me. We have no sensors (front or back) — you didn’t find you wanted front sonar when installing the rear sonar?
Hi, we are looking to get an NV in the next few months and I was just wondering if you still like yours and if youve had any problems with the backup camera since install. I really would prefer an S, lots of kids and I don’t like carpet…but a backup camera is my priority. which leads me to an aftermarket camera, or the SL model. Also, I believe you said you got the V-6, does that drive well? Our local dealer told us the V-6 is not enough power for the size van. I’m not sure if that’s true, or they are trying to get us in a more expensive van!
We do still love ours! The V6 is plenty of power as a daily driver. I’ve never had any issues with it. The only thing that has come up is we are looking to tow an RV and the towing capacity has limited us a bit. We still have plenty of options that we can tow but, with 6 kids, it would have opened us up to some larger trailers if we’d had the bigger engine. Without towing anything though, you’d never notice the difference.
As far as backup cameras go, I actually like our aftermarket one better than the stock one that comes in the higher models.
The rubber floor are wonderful with kids. We periodically take all the seats out and have the kids mop it!
As Rachel stated, you really only need the V8 for towing and we get 17 MPG with the V6.
The main reason I would consider the upper models over the S (besides towing), is that they do include more plugs throughout the vehicle.
The backup camera is a necessity as you cannot see a thing out the back with 12 headrests but I love the way ours is set up so much better than the stock setup. I have it connected to two screens (the screen in the mirror is on whenever I am driving and the one on the deck turns on when I put it in reverse). With the stock setup, it only turns on in reverse so you still can’t see anything while driving. Also, my aftermarket Pioneer deck mirrors my iPhone or Android phone on the screen.
Here is what I used:
Echomaster Rear View Mirror
Echomaster Rear View Camera
Pioneer Deck
Hope this helps!
I really like what you had to say here in regards to driving a full-sized van! A couple of my friends want to rent a van so that we can all drive together this weekend. One thing that you said that really stood out to me was that you should look to get one with a backup camera so that you can stay safe while being mindful of pedestrians around you. Thanks again, and I will let my friends know!