When changing lanes, you can check your blind spots by:
- Using the inside rearview mirror.
- Using the outside rearview mirror.
- Using both inside and outside rearview mirrors.
- Turning your head and looking over your shoulder. ✓
Answer: D. Turning your head and looking over your shoulder.
To check your blind spots when changing lanes, turn your head and look over your shoulder.
Why this is the answer
The Texas handbook says that when you are preparing to pass or change lanes, you should check the rearview mirror and your side mirrors and also look over your shoulder into your blind spot. That shoulder check is what lets you see the area the mirrors do not cover. A separate passage on motorcycle safety makes the same point: make a visual check for motorcycles by checking mirrors and blind spots before entering or leaving a lane. So the action that actually checks the blind spot is turning your head and looking over your shoulder.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Using the inside rearview mirror. — The inside rearview mirror shows what is behind you, but the handbook's lane-change check adds side mirrors and a shoulder look, so the inside mirror by itself does not check the blind spot.
- B. Using the outside rearview mirror. — The outside rearview mirror helps, but the handbook still calls for looking over your shoulder into the blind spot, so the outside mirror alone is not enough.
- C. Using both inside and outside rearview mirrors. — Using both inside and outside mirrors still leaves out the shoulder look the handbook includes for checking the blind spot.
Remember it
Mirrors show most of the scene; your shoulder check covers the spot they miss.