A driver should check the rear view mirror whenever she is
- about to slow down or stop ✓
- near the crest of a hill
- planning to speed up
- about to start up from a stop sign
Answer: A. about to slow down or stop
Check the rear-view mirror before you slow down or stop, so you know what the traffic behind you is doing.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's see-think-do chapter says plainly to look in the rear-view mirror before slowing down or stopping. It also gives the reason behind that check: you need to know whether the cars behind you have room to stop. If they don't, you may have to do something about it. That is why the mirror check comes first, before you reduce speed, rather than after you have already started braking.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. near the crest of a hill — The passages never tie a mirror check to the crest of a hill; they connect rear-view mirror use to slowing down or stopping.
- C. planning to speed up — When you plan to change your road position or direction, the handbook points you to the side-view mirrors, and it does not list speeding up as a rear-view mirror trigger.
- D. about to start up from a stop sign — The passage about pulling away from the right side of the road calls for a check of the left mirror, which is a side-view mirror, not the rear-view mirror.
Remember it
Think of the mirror check as a look at the driver behind you before you ask them to slow down too.
Official handbook: ICBC Learn to Drive Smart, Chapter 5: see-think-do – See, p. 61