Going Large: How To Cope With Driving A Minibus

If you’re a car driver and you find yourself piloting a minibus, you’re bound to experience mixed feelings. There’s a great deal about the hot seat that will be familiar, what with there being a steering wheel, a handbrake, a gear lever or selector and some pedals. On the other hand, the driver’s seat in a minibus will feel a long way from the ground. Equally, the unparalleled vista given by the big windows and screen will highlight the sheer bulk of the vehicle. However, fear not. The only real differences between a minibus and a car can be expressed in two words: size and weight. Allowing for these differences is easy enough and after some practise, you’ll be driving the minibus like a professional.

Where do drivers new to minibuses go wrong? They tend to forget about the scale of things as regards the minibus. Once this is accommodated on an active basis, matters become far easier.

Let’s begin with the first of the differences. Compared to a car, a minibus is wide, long and tall, and realising this by clipping an obstacle, either on the road or during parking, is a realisation too late. Moreover, it’s both embarrassing and expensive. So, start learning minibus-driving skills in a suitable place. There are plenty of large car parks to be found, at out of town shopping centres for example. Finding one and using it will allow you to become accustomed to the size of the vehicle, as well as the way it responds to its controls. It’s worth taking an assistant at this stage, as well as a few empty cardboard boxes. Why? Put it this way, would you rather nudge a cardboard box or someone’s car or a bollard when practicing parking and manoeuvering? Enough said.

Minibus tyros often forget about the height of their new charge. Car park height barriers are the obvious danger but overhanging trees and other roadside foliage won’t do the vehicle’s paint much good. It’s easy to allow for these obstructions. However, some minibus learner drivers take the trouble to add a label to the minibus’s dash or windscreen. Having a clearly visible note of the vehicle’s height, width and length near the eye line is good practice. With this, the driver can start thinking of the minibus as a mobile box, with dimensions as noted. This could save you a small fortune in minor damage claims.

The second aspect is the weight of the minibus. Power steering and brakes, good sound insulation and car-like interiors are all very well but they can seduce drivers into thinking a minibus is lighter than it is in reality. This doesn’t mean that it will fall through a hole in the road but it does mean that the minibus will be slower to accelerate, less accomplished in bends and take longer to stop than a car. Allowing for this extra weight is important: remember that with a full load of fuel and passengers, the minibus will weigh still more.

The final aspect to consider is the minibus’s ‘footprint’ on the road. No, this has nothing to do with carbon, we’re talking about the physical presence of the vehicle. Everyone knows how imposing an articulated lorry is, as compared to a car. At perhaps twice the size of car and three times its weight, a minibus can bully small cars, and especially cyclists and pedestrians. The driver must therefore be aware of what he or she is driving, and drive accordingly. This means avoiding tailgating, not making unclear signals and not making either excessive or vague inputs to the controls. In general, the driver should be aware of the responsibilities associated with driving a bigger vehicle, and drive like a professional, in keeping with these responsibilities.

The Minibus Club is a specialist minibus insurance provider and has offered UK minibus insurance quotes since 1997. Visit our website for minibus driving advice and to receive an online quote for minibus insurance.

Doing The Continental: How To Use A Minibus In Europe

EU legislation has opened the roads of Europe to all manner of vehicles. Anyone can take their vehicle aboard a ferry or through the Eurotunnel with a minimum of fuss and emerge across the water, ready to drive merrily away on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. However, when taking a minibus to Europe, there are some more legal requirements to meet, as well as specific items to acquire. Let’s take a look at what’s needed.

The first requirement is essential for any vehicle with more than eight passenger seats. A minibus travelling for a profit-making organisation must carry a waybill. Which is - what? A waybill is a document that comes in one of two forms. An EU Journey Form covers travelling in EU member states. The alternative, an ASOR waybill, is for use outside the EU and must be accompanied by a set of translated versions.

What if the minibus is being run for a non profit-making organisation? It still needs a ‘control document’ but here, the waybill’s place is taken by an ‘Own Account Certificate’, a.k.a an OAC. This costs nothing and will allow a minibus to be used in the EU for up to five years. These control documents can be sourced from the International Road Freight Office (tel. 0191 2014090).

Now for - more documents. The minibus driver will also need an insurance certificate, a European accident form, the vehicle’’s registration document and his or her full passport and driving licence. In addition, unless the registered keeper of the vehicle, he or she will need a formal ‘permission to drive’ letter from the vehicle’s owner. It’s also worth taking a Green Card, which the minibus insurance provider can supply. Nowadays, an International Driving Permit, or IDP, isn’t necessary in EU and EEA countries. However, travelling beyond the member states makes one a necessity.

Minibus documents done? Not quite but the final ‘document’ is a little unusual. International journeys that begin in the UK must be monitored by a tachograph and the card on which the ’spy in the cab’ records constitutes the last of the necessary documents. It also shows that the driver is complying with EU driver’s hours regulations.

Now for the more tangible additions to the minibus itself. UK minibuses can wear their GB sticker or EU-style GB number plates with pride, and they must. A reflective warning triangle and waistcoat or jacket are legal requirements; the latter must be carried in the cab. Finally, most European countries insist on a spare set of vehicle bulbs being carried on board.

Apart from the obvious matters of making sure that the minibus has been serviced, has good tyres and is fighting fit to travel far, the above is what’s needed to venture onto foreign soil. All that remains is to add an imprecation - remember to drive on the right - and say ‘Bon Voyage’. The latter is easy to achieve and as for the former, getting used to the European Southpaw routine is much easier than it sounds!

The Minibus Club is a specialist minibus insurance provider and has offered UK minibus insurance quotes since 1997. Visit our website for minibus driving advice and to receive an online quote for minibus insurance.

Buyer’s Market: How To Choose Minibus Insurance

You can’t drive a motor vehicle without insurance; the law says so. Commonsense says exactly the same thing as, whether you’re driving a motorcycle, car or minibus, having no insurance could leave you paying out for a lifetime in the event of a claim.

A minibus, defined as a vehicle with nine to 16 seats, may be used in any of a number of roles. It could transport fare-paying passengers as a taxi, hotel guests, employees, nursing home residents, schoolchildren, local authority staff or charity workers and their charges. Some of these uses require specialised elements in insurance cover but let’s begin with the basics.

The minimum level of minibus (or any vehicle) insurance cover is Third Party, often contracted to TPO (Third Party Only). This really is the barest minimum insurance cover and if you are considering it as the best, then the words ‘false economy’ spring to mind.

Why? Well, consider this scenario. Your minibus is running perfectly well on the road. You’ve been driving for a while so you pull in for a coffee. While drinking your hard-earned latte, you see your hard-won minibus driving away with a thief at the wheel. Should you be worrying? You should if you have TPO insurance. Your minibus is gone and unless it’s found, you won’t be buying another because you weren’t insured for theft. Could things be worse? Yes, if your minibus is damaged or destroyed by fire, there’s no fire insurance either.

Potential events like these explain the popularity of Third Party, Fire and Theft insurance for minibuses and other vehicles. Is this contracted to TPF&T? Yes, although generally, the cover usually insures your passengers too, as in TPFT&P (Third Party, Fire, Theft and Passenger). These parameters give cover against liability for the death of and/or injury to third parties, as well as against liability for damage to others’ property. The legal costs in connection with claims against your insurance policy are generally covered too.

Minibus insurance, like most things, has a top-of-the-range choice. This is Comprehensive insurance, which covers all the above and more. Damage to the minibus’s windscreen and windows, post-accident medical expenses and the replacement of personal effects lost to fire, theft or accident damage may also be covered. Any good insurance provider will have the details of what is and isn’t insured.

Insurance matters don’t end here, regardless of whether the vehicle in question is a minibus or another kind of vehicle. Tailored extensions can usually be added to your insurance policy, to suit the use to which the vehicle is being put. For example, using a minibus on the Continent may warrant extended cover, while European breakdown cover is usually offered and is well worth buying. In some countries, you may need a Green Card, which proves that your insurance complies with the laws concerning the minimum level of cover. However, this is no longer essential in EU countries, all 31 of them. In those countries where a Green Card is required, it will allow a minibus to be driven there for a maximum of 90 days. Your insurance provider may supply a green card where necessary but if not, will probably be able to arrange for one to be sent to you.

As is often the case, it’s better to have more insurance than you need than to need more insurance than you have. Ensure you have the former, with the aid of your provider - and the small print.

The Minibus Club is a specialist minibus insurance provider and has offered UK minibus insurance quotes since 1997. Visit our website for minibus driving advice and to receive an online quote for minibus insurance.