Driving & Blind Spot

mjoneseyjones

I remember the alomst 5-minutely bollockings I got when doing my motorcycle lessons for forgetting the lifesaver when pulling off/changing direction.

Never forgotten it since, in car or on the bike!

James_B.

Strider590 wrote: »

I think it depends a lot on how good your peripheral vision is, i'm very aware of objects on the edge on my vision, so often a shoulder check isn't needed.

That's quite a worrying thing to think. As pointed out above, none of us have "good " peripheral vision The brain fills in a vast amount of detail by interpolating, giving you the impression that your vision is good here, but it'd take a weird genetic abnormality for you to genuinely have much better than average vision and perception out there.

BeenThroughItAll

James_B. wrote: »

That's quite a worrying thing to think. As pointed out above, none of us have "good " peripheral vision The brain fills in a vast amount of detail by interpolating, giving you the impression that your vision is good here, but it'd take a weird genetic abnormality for you to genuinely have much better than average vision and perception out there.

Although, I was taught many years ago that when you're scanning for movement (for example looking for a person moving stealthily), it can actually be better to concentrate on peripheral vision as the concentration of rods (or is it cones? can't remember now) means movement is actually better detected 'out of the corner of the eye'; so you could actually be quite aware of objects there if they're moving relative to you.

Strider590

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Although, I was taught many years ago that when you're scanning for movement (for example looking for a person moving stealthily), it can actually be better to concentrate on peripheral vision as the concentration of rods (or is it cones? can't remember now) means movement is actually better detected 'out of the corner of the eye'; so you could actually be quite aware of objects there if they're moving relative to you.

I think this is it, your seeing movement, what that movement is does not matter, it's that initial "hey there's something here that wasn't there 2 seconds ago" kick, that makes you look more closely.

JustinR1979

When checking your offside blindspot, your passenger should be able to see your right ear.

mgdavid

James_B. wrote: »

That's quite a worrying thing to think. As pointed out above, none of us have "good " peripheral vision The brain fills in a vast amount of detail by interpolating, giving you the impression that your vision is good here, but it'd take a weird genetic abnormality for you to genuinely have much better than average vision and perception out there.

- peripheral vision is measurable, and is measured in certain eye tests
- across the population there is variation
- within the variable range there is a median and an average
- some people will be well above average, and some well below.
- most people's definition of 'good' is well above average;
- you are the exception that proves the rule.

Strider590

mgdavid wrote: »

- peripheral vision is measurable, and is measured in certain eye tests
- across the population there is variation
- within the variable range there is a median and an average
- some people will be well above average, and some well below.
- most people's definition of 'good' is well above average;
- you are the exception that proves the rule.

Well, yes, but there is a difference between seeing and acting.
Just as listening doesn't mean the same as hearing.

I played far too many FPS video games in my youth, in those days frowned upon, but these days people make serious money out of it.

We're talking about constantly scanning peripheral vision, spotting a single pixel move or change, deciding whether it's relevant and then not just getting the mouse cursor over that exact spot within 1/10th of a second, but predicting and adjusting for where that object is going to be by the time you get there...... Almost always without ever actually looking AT the object.

"Skills" like that transfer very well into the real world, into anything where speed and fast reactions count and I would dare to say that on a good day, my observation and reactions are a long way above the average Joe.

specialboy

JustinR1979 wrote: »

When checking your offside blindspot, your passenger should be able to see your right ear.

What if they're in the passenger seat behind me? ;-)

bod1467

Then they should be able to see your earHOLE.

mjoneseyjones

Strider590 wrote: »

Well, yes, but there is a difference between seeing and acting.
Just as listening doesn't mean the same as hearing.

I played far too many FPS video games in my youth, in those days frowned upon, but these days people make serious money out of it.

We're talking about constantly scanning peripheral vision, spotting a single pixel move or change, deciding whether it's relevant and then not just getting the mouse cursor over that exact spot within 1/10th of a second, but predicting and adjusting for where that object is going to be by the time you get there...... Almost always without ever actually looking AT the object.

"Skills" like that transfer very well into the real world, into anything where speed and fast reactions count and I would dare to say that on a good day, my observation and reactions are a long way above the average Joe.

No officer, I didn't check my blindspot, my peripheral vision is better than most because I used to be good at video games :rotfl: