The phrase ‘new road, new mirrors’ is commonly used by driving instructors to encourage learner drivers to check their mirrors just after entering a new road. Your instructor may say ‘new road, new mirrors’ frequently until you get into the habit of doing it yourself without the need for prompting.
It’s important to be aware of what’s in front of you, what’s to your sides and what’s behind you at all times. Upon entering a new road, your priority must of course be with what’s ahead of you. After you’ve observed the road ahead, you’ll need to take a brief look into your rear-view mirrors.
Why Do We Need to Check Mirrors When Entering a New Road
While driving, knowing what’s going on around us gives the driver greater control. Greater control means that we can maintain a higher level of safety. When entering a new road, our immediate surrounding have changed, so we need to update what’s going on around us by checking our mirrors. If we see anything hazardous in our rear view mirrors, we can adapt our driving accordingly.
What Mirrors Should We Check When entering a New Road?
Usually, a brief look into the rear-view mirror is sufficient, but it depends on what’s going on when you enter the new road. If for example, when entering the new road there are parked cars that you need to steer around, you’ll also need to make use of your side mirrors.