Peripheral Vision - Understand it & Use it for Safe, Defensive Driving

"Peripheral vision" is defined as "a part of vision that occurs outside the very center of gaze." And, "Peripheral vision is good at detecting motion..." And, "Different visual areas contribute to the processing of visual information coming from different parts of the visual field, and a complex of visual areas located along the banks of the interhemispheric fissure (a deep groove that separates the two brain hemispheres) has been linked to peripheral vision. It has been suggested that these areas are important for fast reactions to visual stimuli in the periphery, and monitoring body position relative to gravity" (WikipediA--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_vision).

Well...that is certainly a 'mouthful', but it's really just saying that peripheral vision is that gift human beings have been given which allows us to see to either side of us without turning our heads or even moving our eyes. As we know, it is often difficult to determine just what we are seeing with our peripheral vision, but even "detecting motion" is an important factor while driving motor vehicles, for sure!

Using peripheral vision while driving a motor vehicle (or boat, or bicycle, and so on) is one of the most important factors when considering the necessary ingredients for safe, effective "defensive driving", as peripheral vision allows drivers who learn how to use it well to be aware of as much surrounding activity as possible, which, of course, is critical to safe driving habits.

Using peripheral vision when driving takes a measure of training. That is, in order to fully understand what the peripheral vision is showing, one must learn to process and react to ambiguous or "out-of-focus" visual information. In other words, because peripheral vision is not a direct-on view, our brains are essentially "guessing" a little.