A vehicle blind spot (VBS) or simply blind spot is an area around a vehicle that cannot be directly seen by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances. In transport, driver visibility is the maximum distance at which the driver of a vehicle can see and identify prominent objects around the vehicle. Visibility is primarily determined by weather conditions (see visibility) and by a vehicle's design. The parts of a vehicle that influence visibility include the windshield, the dashboard and the pillars. Good driver visibility is essential to safe road traffic.

Blind spots exist in a wide range of vehicles: aircraft, cars, buses, trucks, agricultural equipment, heavy equipment, boats, ships, trams and trains. Blind spots may occur in the front of the driver when the A-pillar (also called the windshield pillar), side-view mirror, or interior rear-view mirror block a driver's view of the road. Behind the driver, cargo, headrests, and additional pillars may reduce visibility. Proper adjusting of mirrors and using other technical solutions can eliminate or alleviate vehicle blind spots.

A no zone is one of several areas around a large truck, where the truck driver cannot see. Collisions frequently occur in no zones.

A blind zone is one of several areas around heavier rolling stocks (locomotives and multiple units), where the train driver cannot see. Accidents frequently occur in blind zones.

The side view mirrors of a car should be adjusted to reduce blind spots on the sides. The method is frequently overlooked in driver's education classes and takes some getting used to. Calculated elimination of blind spots by properly trained drivers is inexpensive and obviates the need for costly technological solutions to that problem, provided drivers take the time to set up and use their mirrors effectively. The arrangement—pointing the side-view mirrors substantially outboard in a fixed mechanical formula—is relatively simple to achieve. Still, it takes some knowledgeable effort and getting used to it. It is reputed to be a lifesaver.

However, one source considers that method a driving mistake and claims it is even more dangerous than not using it, because it creates other blind spots directly behind the vehicle—nine reasons are listed, e.g., when backing up—which are impossible to eliminate by a "shoulder check".

Rearward invisibility is an entirely different matter. The area directly behind vehicles is the source of backup collisions, particularly involving pedestrians, children, and objects directly aft of a vehicle. That area has been called a "killing zone". These problems are the object of several technological solutions, including (in rough order of technological complexity, simplest first): rear-view mirror, side-view mirror, Fresnel lens, sonar, parking sensors, and backup camera. A similar problem attaches to positions left and right of a vehicle's rear bumper as the driver attempts to back out of a parking space. Specially designed cross-traffic alert warning systems have been developed to address these.

As one is driving an automobile, blind spots are the areas of the road that cannot be seen while looking forward or through either the rear-view or side mirrors (expecting that the side mirrors are properly adjusted on a passenger auto – see above). The most common are the rear quarter blind spots, areas towards the rear of the vehicle on both sides. Vehicles in the adjacent lanes of the road that fall into these blind spots may not be visible using only the car's mirrors. Rear quarter blind spots can be: