What is the "blind spot" referenced in the Oregon Driver Manual?
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A.
The area in front where the hood blocks your view.
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B.
The area around your vehicle that mirrors cannot cover. Correct
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C.
The area covered by the rearview mirror.
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D.
The area directly behind your vehicle that you check by looking out the rear window.
The answer is "The area around your vehicle that mirrors cannot cover."
Your blind spot is the area around your vehicle that you cannot see from the driver's seat even with the use of your mirrors. The handbook calls this out specifically because mirrors do not cover everything; the only way to clear a blind spot before a lane change is to glance over your shoulder in the direction you are moving.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. The area in front where the hood blocks your view.
The handbook places the blind spot around your vehicle, not in front of the hood. Misreading: Confuses the blind spot with a front-hood sight obstruction; the manual locates it around the vehicle, not ahead of it.
C. The area covered by the rearview mirror.
The blind spot is the area NOT covered by mirrors. Misreading: Inverts the rule; the manual defines the blind spot as the gap mirrors cannot show, not the area they do cover.
D. The area directly behind your vehicle that you check by looking out the rear window.
That describes the view you check when backing up. The blind spot is the area around your vehicle that you cannot see from the driver's seat even with your mirrors. Misreading: Conflates the backing-up rule (mirrors do not give a full view, so turn and look out the rear window) with the lane-change blind spot, which the manual places around the vehicle, not only directly behind it.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Changing Lanes," p.30..
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