When backing up your vehicle, what is the best practice?

When backing up your vehicle, the best practice is to look over your shoulder and use your mirrors. This method ensures that you have a comprehensive view of your surroundings, minimizing blind spots that might not be covered by mirrors alone. While mirrors provide useful information regarding the sides and rear of your vehicle, directly looking over your shoulder allows you to see obstacles, people, or other vehicles that may be in your path.

Utilizing both your mirrors and turning your head to look directly behind you enables you to make better-informed decisions while reversing. This dual approach significantly enhances safety, as it combines the advantages of technology (like mirrors) with direct visual confirmation of your surroundings.

In contrast, relying solely on a backup camera may leave you vulnerable to missing important details in your environment, particularly if the camera has limitations, like poor visibility in low light. Using only mirrors can also create blind spots, which could lead to accidents. Quickly checking your surroundings might not provide enough time to fully assess the potential hazards before backing up. All in all, the combination of looking over your shoulder and checking mirrors is the safest and most effective method when reversing a vehicle.