When moving off, you must always make sure that it’s clear and safe. This is one thing that your driving instructor will stress time and time again during your driving lessons. One common mistake that drivers make is to start moving off first, and then look if it’s clear.
Once you are seated in the car, you will be able to see clearly the front view. Your side mirrors will allow you to see most of what is behind the car. However, there will be some areas around the car that you can’t see clearly and need special attention. These are what you call “blind spots”.
A blind spot is an are area on the left and right area of your vehicle that cannot be seen in your mirrors. It could also be hidden by parts of your car’s structure. An example of a blind spot that is caused by the car’s structure is the front windscreen pillars. Some cars have bigger pillars and can hide objects like a bicycle, motorcycle or even a pedestrian. Hence you must always take special care to compensate for blind spots by moving in your seat if necessary in order to get a good view.
When moving off, the blind spots behind your left and right shoulders are very critical
For example, if you look at the diagram you can see that the blue car that is emerging from the junction would not be visible in the mirrors of the red car – if the driver of the red car were to move off without seeing it there could easily be an accident.
To compensate for this blind spot, you will need to check over your right shoulder before moving off from the left-hand side of the road.
