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Ensuring Passenger Safety
Whenever you have a passenger riding in the machine, make
sure that he or she is wearing the seat belt and holding on
securely. Drive slower and turn less sharply because your
passenger does not know what you are going to do next and
may not be prepared for turning, stopping, accelerating, and
bumps.
You and your passenger should remain seated at all times,
keeping arms and legs inside the vehicle. The operator should
keep both hands on steering wheel, whenever possible, and
the passenger should use the hand holds provided
26
and
Figure
27).
1. Passenger-hand hold
1. Hand hold and hip restraint
Never allow passengers in the cargo box or on any
attachments. The vehicle is meant to have 1 driver and only
1 passenger.
Figure 26
2. Storage compartment
Figure 27
Ensuring Proper Speed
Speed is one of the most important variables leading to
accidents. Driving too fast for the conditions can cause you
to lose control and have an accident. Speed can also make a
minor accident worse. Driving head on into a tree at slow
speed can cause injury and damage, but, driving into a tree
at high speed can destroy the vehicle and kill you and your
passenger.
Never drive too fast for the conditions. If there is any doubt
about how fast to drive, slow down.
(Figure
When using heavy attachments, more than 454 kg (1,000
lb), such as sprayers, top dressers, or spreaders, etc., restrict
your operating speed by moving the supervisor switch to the
slow position.
Ensuring Proper Turning
Turning is another important variable leading to accidents.
Turning too sharply for the conditions can cause the vehicle
to lose traction and skid, or even tip over.
Wet, sandy, and slippery surfaces make turning more difficult
and risky. The faster you are going, the worse this situation
becomes so, slow down before turning.
During a sharp turn at higher speeds, the inside rear wheel
may lift off the ground. This is not a flaw in the design, it
happens with most 4-wheel machine including passenger cars.
If this happens, you are turning too sharply for the speed at
which you are traveling.
Ensuring Proper Braking
It is good practice to slow down before you get near an
obstacle. This gives you extra time to stop or turn away.
Hitting an obstacle can damage the machine and its contents.
More important, it can injure you and your passenger. Gross
machine weight has a major impact on your ability to stop
and/or turn. Heavier loads and heavier attachments make
a vehicle harder to stop or turn. The heavier the load, the
longer it takes to stop.
The braking characteristics also change with no bed or
attachment on the machine. Fast stops may cause the rear
wheels to lock up before the front wheels lock up, which may
affect the control of the machine. It is a good idea to decrease
machine speed with no bed or attachment.
Turf and pavement are much slipperier when they are wet.
It can take 2 to 4 times as long to stop on wet surfaces as
on dry surfaces.
If you drive through standing water deep enough to get the
brakes wet, they will not work well until they are dry. After
driving through water, you should test the brakes to make
sure they work properly. If they do not, drive slowly in first
gear while putting light pressure on the brake pedal. This
will dry out the brakes.
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