- Hi there, smart drivers,
Rick with Smart Drive Test, talking to you today
about why you shoulder check
when you turn left at an intersection.
It is imperative to instill this habit,
when you're learning how to drive,
and want to be a safer driver.
Shoulder checking every time you turn the vehicle,
any time that you move the vehicle laterally,
and especially when you turn left.
And as you can see here in some of the dash cam footage,
people have crashes because they didn't
shoulder check left.
So always always shoulder check left before you commit
to the turn.
Even though you think that you have blind-spot detectors
in your vehicle, because new cars have them,
You still need to shoulder check left,
when you're turning left.
People will cut you off on the inside
when you're turning left, I've had this happen to me.
I asked the very same question about why we shoulder check
left, in my driving instruction course,
and no later than the next day, the very next day,
I was in Ottawa, was turning left
into the Ottawa General Hospital, and a taxi cab cut
on the inside left, and had I not shoulder check,
I would have driven right into that taxi cab.
So make sure that you shoulder check when you're turning
left, instill that habit
so that you do it every time that you move the vehicle
left, or you're turning left.
So, we're preparing to turn left,
here at a complex intersection and we're going to move
into the turning lane.
It's the same thing,
you think that you don't have to shoulder check left
because there's a cement median there.
But it's about developing the habits so that you do
it every time,
that you do it without thinking that it's going to keep
you safe on the roadway when you're driving.
And again, when you're turning left here,
shoulder check before you start turning left.
You want to make sure that there's nobody in that area
over there, okay?
Follow it around,
the vehicles stay in place there, and again,
you can see in the dash cam footage here,
the people have merged left,
not shoulder checked when they're merging left,
and what happens is there's tends to be a car
there and there's a car right there now.
So, I want to change lanes over to the left-hand lane,
and there's a car coming in my blind spot.
Put my signal on, mirror, signal, shoulder check.
Mirror, signal, shoulder check and move over.
And you can see here in the dash cam footage of the people
who have passed or changed lanes,
and failed to shoulder check left before they moved out
have had crashes,
that have proven fatal for some of these drivers.
So, shoulder checking left,
make sure that you do it every time
you move the vehicle to the left,
every time that you do a left-hand turn.
So, turning left, moving into the turning lane,
the left turning lane, shoulder check left twice.
Preparing to turn left
we stop at the correct stopping position behind
the stop line.
And here we have a left-turn signal.
We can see that in the dash cam, and we saw it as we were
approaching there, left-turn signal.
Shoulder check left, shoulder check left again, forward.
All right, so we got an acceleration lane here.
Same thing, get out on the acceleration lane.
Get it up to speed, shoulder check left, space mirror,
signal, shoulder check.
Shoulder check left and we move out,
shoulder check one more time.
And as you see in the dash cam footage here,
a couple of people didn't shoulder check left
when they were merging out onto a roadway and they got
into a sideswipe crash.
Now, at lower speeds,
sideswipe crashes tend not to be fatal or inflict injuries
because the car will protect you in the event
of a sideswipe crash,
and both vehicles are traveling in the same direction,
but out on the highway,
if you're passing and you fail to shoulder check left
and another car is passing,
then what's going to happen is you're going to crash
into that car as you can see here in the footage,
and at highway speeds,
80 kilometers an hour, 50 miles an hour,
it could potentially be fatal because you're going to lose
control and go out of control into the ditch,
or crash into another vehicle, and you are going to be
in very serious trouble.
So, one of the defensive driving posturings that will
significantly reduce your chances of being involved
in a crash is shoulder checking left.
So ensure that you do that every time you move the vehicle
sideways, every time you turn.
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test, for another video,
click here, and to subscribe, click here.
And remember, pick the best answer.
Not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day.
Bye now.
Shoulder check left.
Just listen to all that mud up underneath the car!
Yes!
That maybe not have been the best place to turn around.