How can you check for a vehicle in your blind spots before changing lanes?

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Checking blind spots before changing lanes means using all available tools to see what’s hidden from your mirrors. Mirrors help you track vehicles behind and beside you, but they can’t show every inch of the space next to and in your blind spots. A quick shoulder check toward the lane you plan to enter fills that gap by giving you a direct view of vehicles that might not appear in the mirrors, including motorcycles or cars close to your blind spot. This combination—using the rearview and side mirrors and then doing a brief glance over your shoulder in the direction you intend to move—provides the clearest view of whether the lane is truly clear.

Relying only on the rearview or only on the side mirrors leaves parts of the road unseen, and ignoring mirrors altogether isn’t safe because you can’t accurately judge nearby traffic by sound alone.