Blind Spot Checks

Blind Spot Checks - See What Your Mirrors Can't Show You

Checking your blind spots is a must for all safe drivers, and for any driver who wants to pass their driving test. The truth is, many drivers are not checking their blind spots the right way, and many drivers are not checking their blind spots enough. Join Drivers Ed Direct instructor Micah as he expertly breaks down how and when to do blind spot checks.

When Do You Check a Blind Spot?

Check your blind spots before any left or right turn on major streets, before any lane change, and before pulling to or pulling away from the curb.

Any Other Blind Spot DMV Test Tips?

Yes! Don't forget to check your blind spots even if your car has automatic blind spot sensors. Failing to manually check your blind spots is dangerous and will get you failed on your DMV Drive Test.

Blind Spot Checks - Video Transcript

Hi! My name is Micah with Drivers Ed Direct and in this video today we are talking about Blind Spot Checks, for 2 reasons. First, as a driving instructor, I've noticed that a lot of people aren't checking their blind spots the right way, and second, I've noticed that a lot of people aren't checking their blind spots enough... so we're talking about both today in this video.

Now what is a blind spot check and how do we do it? A blind spot check is a quick turn of the head from chin to shoulder, either to the right (or) chin to shoulder to the left, before we make any lane change. Now the phrase, "over-the-shoulder", you may have heard that before, that is a blind spot check, but it can be a little misleading. When I heard the phrase, "over-the-shoulder", I would turn my head and actually look over my shoulder, but if you look too far, it's hard to keep your car centered in the lane or without drifting. Now your left and right mirrors actually show you what's really far over-the-shoulder, behind the car. A blind spot check is just a quick glance, chin to shoulder, to see what's right out next to our car in a little area that our mirrors don't show us. Now before we go on to talk about when we're supposed to do our blind spot checks, I want to show you how something can be hiding in our blind spot.

So here I am, curbside parked. Let's say I want to pull away from the curb and go to the store, now if I check my rear-view mirror, it looks good back there. I don't see anything coming up next to my car. As I check my left mirror, looks pretty good too, even if I lean a little bit, there's no car coming up next to me. I don't see anything next to me, but if I take my head and turn chin to shoulder, check my blind spot, there it is. A tall cone right next to my car that I couldn't see in my mirrors. That is our blind spot to the left and that could be a jogger, someone walking their dog, a cyclist, or even a car.

A lot of the nice, new cars out there have a blind spot check sensor that will actually light up if something is in your blind spot which is awesome; technology, great! On your drive test, we want to pretend like our car doesn't even do that for us and we still want to check our blind spot because your examiner wants to know that we can physically do it. So if you have a nice new car that has a blind spot check sensor, we're still turning our head chin to shoulder for every type of lane change or it could still be a fail on your Drive Test.

Now let's talk about when we need to check our blind spots. I mentioned earlier that a lot of people don't check their blind spots enough and that's because the DMV handbook says, we need to check our blind spots before every left turn, right turn, or lane change on major streets. We also need to check our blind spots before we curbside park or before we pull away. If we miss one on the Drive Test, our examiner actually could give us an automatic fail... so if your examiner says," Please make a left at the light," we need to check our blind spot before we get in the turn lane. If your examiner says, "Please make a right turn at the light," we need to check our blind spot to the right before we go into the curb whether or not there is a bike lane. Now of course we're checking our blind spot on every lane change on every major street, but a lot of people miss this one. If your examiner says, "Please curbside park on the right," we need to check our blind spot before we go into the curb and when they say, "Keep going," we need to check our blind spot before we go away from the curb. Technically, all of those are types of lane changes, so I still do those blind spot checks to this day just to make sure I don't hit anything.

Blind spot check is a quick glance from chin to shoulder, either to the left or to the right, before left turns or right turns on major streets, lane changes, or before curbside parking or pulling away from the curb because they are all considered types of lane changes. Now don't forget, if your car has a blind spot check sensor, we still need to physically check our blind spot or it could be a fail on the Drive Test.

Well, that is it for blind spot checks today. Thank you for watching! Good luck on your Drive Test and stay tuned for more videos from Drivers Ed Direct!

Summary:

Join professional driving instructor Micah and the Drivers Ed Direct team as we teach you all about Blind Spot Checks. Blind spot checks are an essential aspect of every day driving. Whether you're making a lane change, a left turn, a right turn, or even curbside parking, you are always going to need to check your blind spots if you want to avoid an accident. Also, you need to make sure to do them properly on your DMV Drive Test, so your examiner doesn't fail you.

We are confident that after watching this video a few times, you'll be as good as Micah at checking your blind spots! Thanks for tuning in and join us next time for more driving tips!