When changing lanes, you should always:

When changing lanes, checking your mirrors and looking over your shoulder is essential for ensuring the safety of both yourself and other road users. By checking your mirrors, you can get an overview of the traffic situation around you, including vehicles that may be in your blind spots and the distance of vehicles behind you. However, mirrors alone can sometimes give a limited view, particularly in blind spots.

Looking over your shoulder allows you to confirm that it is safe to make a lane change. This head check is crucial for spotting vehicles that may not be visible in your mirrors, such as motorcycles or smaller cars that may be in your blind spot. This two-pronged approach of using both mirrors and a shoulder check provides the best chance of ensuring that the lane change can be performed safely without endangering yourself or others on the road.

Relying solely on checking mirrors or only performing a shoulder check neglects one aspect of the comprehensive safety check needed for a successful lane change. Signaling your intentions is also important, but it does not replace the need for visual verification of your surroundings before changing lanes.