Texas DMV Written Driving Practice Test

Checking your blind spots involves actively looking for vehicles or obstacles that are not visible in your mirrors. The correct method is to look over your shoulder, which allows you to directly observe areas that cannot be seen through side or rearview mirrors. This practice is vital, especially before changing lanes or merging into traffic, as it ensures that you are aware of any vehicles that may be in those critical zones.

Using mirrors only can lead to missing out on important visual information about vehicles that may be in your blind spots. While checking the rearview mirror helps in observing traffic behind you, it does not account for vehicles that may be beside or just behind your vehicle, in the blind spots. Ignoring blind spots completely, particularly in scenarios with no immediate vehicles, can foster complacency and increase the risk of accidents in dynamic driving environments. Therefore, actively looking over your shoulder is an essential safety behavior that emphasizes the importance of maintaining awareness of all areas around your vehicle.