[debmum]

I had driven in India for 15 years, but never knew about the "shoulder check" or "turning your head slghtly to check cars on the blind spot" before changing lanes. What I did in India for 15 years was "manoeuvre" (in short, lane cutting, honking and pushing others to make my way, leaving the street in a mess ). However, when I moved to Dubai and subsequently to Hong Kong, I had to clear driving tests in both these places. My British instructor in Dubai was the guy from whom I learnt real driving. Believe me guys, "shoulder check" is a fraction-of-second exercise and does not distract you from the road ahead, as some BHPians are suggesting in this thread. And it is really helpful! However, now that I am back in India (Mumbai) after 6 years abroad, I have to unlearn a lot of good things that I learnt about driving in Dubai and Hong Kong. Here in Mumbai I am back to the "rowdy style" of driving again, much against my wish, as most of us know that othrwise you can't survive on the mess that we call Mumbai traffic

[samish_g]

Originally Posted by debmum

However, when I moved to Dubai and subsequently to Hong Kong, I had to clear driving tests in both these places. My British instructor in Dubai was the guy from whom I learnt real driving. Believe me guys, "shoulder check" is a fraction-of-second exercise and does not distract you from the road ahead, as some BHPians are suggesting in this thread. And it is really helpful!

Even in Japan, where I had to clear the driving test after my IDP expired, I learnt about the "shoulder check". In fact the candidate will not pass the test unless he performs the shoulder check during lane changing.

Regards

Samish

[fine69]

Shoulder check isn't to be confused with peripheral vision. While doing a shoulder check we aren't looking straight and tend to move our eyes towards the side and also make decision based on what we see through the peripheral vision.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_vision

A thick frame is MOST DEFINITELY blocking some part of the peripheral vision and only those folks are going to miss it who make use of peripheral vision. Now if someone says they don't, well, I'll have to believe them.

Any opaque obstruction put on the temple, however small/big is bound to create an obstruction and there are no two ways about it. Of course, bigger/thicker the obstruction, more the loss of peripheral vision.

Another article where someone talks about how they are unable to notice things happening on their side because of the frame blocking the peripheral vision.

http://millionairetips.hubpages.com/...-are-Dangerous

I purchased these stylish eyeglasses and noticed a difference right away. From my desk in an open area, I did not notice that people were coming towards my desk to walk in the aisle behind me until they were much closer to me. This was startling, but probably not very dangerous unless a coworker becomes seriously disgruntled.
When I am driving, I can see the temples from the corner of my eye, and it makes it feel like there is a car that is continuously driving alongside me. My friend who has similar glasses told me that she recently averted a car accident that was caused by her glasses blocking her view.
There already is a blind spot when you are driving a car. There's no need to create another one by buying the wrong kind of eyeglass frames.

Put a finger in front of your eye, does it block any of the view? Move it to your temple in the direction of the frame, doesn't block your peripheral vision? If it doesn't its magic, if it does you have a human eye, enough said!