While backing up, a driver should

1. turn and look through the rear window ✓
2. check both side mirrors
3. look in the rearview mirror
4. look in all his mirrors

Answer: A. turn and look through the rear window

While backing up, a driver should turn and look through the rear window.

Why this is the answer

The handbook's backing-up procedure has two parts. First, before you move, do a full 360-degree vision check around the vehicle using shoulder checks and mirror checks. Then, while the vehicle is actually moving backward, turn your body and look out the rear window. Mirrors help with the check beforehand, but the handbook names looking out the rear window as what you do during the backup itself. That is where you can spot children, pets, pedestrians, cyclists and people in wheelchairs, who are easy to miss.

Why the other answers are wrong

• B. check both side mirrors — Mirror checks belong to the 360-degree check you do before backing up, not to the backup itself.
• C. look in the rearview mirror — The rearview mirror is only part of the earlier all-around vision check, and it leaves large blind spots behind the vehicle.
• D. look in all his mirrors — Using all the mirrors is the pre-backup check the handbook describes, but it does not replace turning to look out the rear window while reversing.

Remember it

Check all around first, then turn your body and look out the back window as you reverse.