Which of the following best ensures your safety and the safety of those around you when you are backing your vehicle?
- Honk your horn right before shifting into reverse.
- Check behind the vehicle before you get into the driver's seat. ✓
- Check your rearview mirrors to see what is behind you.
- Turn up the car radio before backing up to get the attention of anyone who may be around you.
Answer: B. Check behind the vehicle before you get into the driver's seat.
Check behind the vehicle before you get into the driver's seat.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's backing-up section says to check behind your vehicle before you get in. It explains that children and small objects cannot be seen from the driver's seat. That makes looking behind the car the safety step to take before you start the engine or rely on mirrors. The passage also tells you to adjust rear-view mirrors, but the specific warning about things hidden from the driver's seat points to checking behind the vehicle before you sit down.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Honk your horn right before shifting into reverse. — The handbook does not say to honk before backing; it points to checking behind the vehicle before you get in, so a horn is not the step described for this safety check.
- C. Check your rearview mirrors to see what is behind you. — Mirrors are adjusted for use, but the passage warns that children and small objects cannot be seen from the driver's seat, so mirrors alone are not the specific check it calls for.
- D. Turn up the car radio before backing up to get the attention of anyone who may be around you. — The handbook says nothing about using the radio to alert people, and this does not match its instruction to check behind the vehicle before getting in.
Remember it
Make the look behind the car part of opening the door, not starting the engine.