Kenneth C. Mills is a licensed psychologist/scientist from Chapel Hill North Carolina. Dr. Mills has worked with the National Institutes of Health, The North Carolina Highway Patrol, SAS Institute, The NC Governor's Highway Safety Program, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The United States Marine Corp, The United States Air Force, RTI International and numerous organizations throughout North America to train better, safer drivers.

Dr. Mills traveled the U.S. for 10 years developing simulations and training programs for professional drivers: police, firefighters, EMT's and federal employees. During his travels, he started to realize that much of the science he had been exposed to could be useful to these training programs. During focus groups and informal meetings at the track, he started to share some of the abstract scientific thought with the top instructors. They found the research useful. More important, Dr. Mills learned that the instructors' knowledge base, often spread by word of mouth, could be extremely valuable to the average driver if it could be structured into a framework. Thus, the science provided the framework and the instructors gave the practical knowedge on how to expand your visual attention. The idea that those two worlds might be integrated started the book.

From the Prologue of Disciplined Attention:
"As I became more aware of how scientists investigate restrictions to our field of vision, I was also gaining exposure to professional trainers who teach vision and attention skills as the core of driver training courses. I brought professional driving instructors into focus groups, where they explained what goes on as a driver learns to perform proficiently under a variety of stressful conditions. On the track, tunnel vision invariably disrupts the essential skills associated with smooth, accomplished performance in cornering, braking, and evasive maneuvers. The instructors spoke of narrowed vision and disrupted attention as being the greatest impediments to good driving. They also talked about narrowed vision in shades of grey because the restriction of our visual field exerts its influence in a number of ways as drivers navigate a variety of traffic challenges.

Expanding visual attention is a primary goal in courses that provide live driving experiences to professionals, corporate protective services and teen drivers. Expanding your visual field can improve your driving."

Dr. Mills was compelled to write the book because both scientists and driving instructors alike know that inattention is a major cause of motor vehicle crashes, injury and death. He wanted the average driver to be able to learn and use the skills that have traditionally been reserved for the elite professional.