Before you change lanes, you check your mirrors. What else does the manual tell you to do to confirm your blind spot is clear?
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A.
Turn your head and look over your shoulder. Correct
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B.
Tilt your rear-view mirror down for a lower angle.
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C.
Wait for the driver behind you to flash their headlights.
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D.
Count three seconds while listening for other engines.
The answer is "Turn your head and look over your shoulder."
The manual says to check over your shoulder to be certain the blind spot is clear. Mirrors do not cover the rear corners of the vehicle, so a shoulder check is a separate step, not a mirror angle. Trap: option B. A driver who leans on side and rear-view mirrors for every check tries to solve the blind spot by moving the mirror, when the manual expects the head to turn.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Tilt your rear-view mirror down for a lower angle.
Mirror angle changes do not cover the vehicle's rear corners, which is why the manual adds a separate shoulder check. This answer trusts a mirror adjustment to do the job of a head turn, a habit easy to pick up in cars with blind-spot alerts.
C. Wait for the driver behind you to flash their headlights.
The manual does not expect communication from another driver; the blind-spot check is your own responsibility. This answer waits on a signal from the car behind, as if clearing the blind spot were the other driver's job.
D. Count three seconds while listening for other engines.
A count-and-listen routine is not the manual's rule; the blind spot is checked visually, over the shoulder. This answer swaps a visual shoulder check for an audible one, on the hunch that hearing an engine could substitute for seeing a vehicle.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Changing Lanes," p.54..
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