Study: Car design has worsened, increasing blindspots which cause accidents
The view out of a modern car
Our present dark age: According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in the past two decades the design of cars has drastically decreased the visibility for drivers so that blindspots are larger, resulting in an increase in accidents.
Puzzled by traffic accident data showing that fatalities for cyclists and pedestrians had risen over the past 25 years, while car passenger deaths had come down, IIHS researchers wondered whether drivers might be finding it harder to see those more vulnerable road users.
And they discovered that successive versions of long-running popular cars had obstructed, more and more, a driver’s view of the 10 meters (33 ft) of space they were about to drive into. That near-car view, from the eye point of the average male driver, had shrunk on every one of six long-running models tested, IIHS testing showed, when an early (1997-plus) version was compared with the version on sale in 2023.
In the case of traditional cars, the near-car viewable area had contracted only slightly, the 7-8% reductions from the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry possibly even attributable to measurement error.
When it came to SUVs, however, the shrinkage was dramatic. The driver of a 1997 Honda CR-V could see 68% of a forward half-circle whose perimeter was 10 meters (33 ft) from their eye point – slightly more, in fact, than from the sedans that were tested. The driver of a 2023 CR-V could see just 28% of that semi-circle. In relative terms, the driver of the 2023 CR-V could see only 42% of what they would see from a 1997 model.
You can read the IIHS study here.
Why are designers doing this? One theory is that they are increasingly relying on cameras and software to replace the driver’s sight, and thus feel free to add obstructions to the car body that make it look cool. The problem is that these mechanical non-human solutions simply don’t work as well as the human brain, and thus drivers are hitting things more often.
But don’t worry. Soon AI will soon make it possible for cars will drive themselves! We will even be able to eliminate the windows entirely so that car travel will be an utterly private thing!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The view out of a modern car
Our present dark age: According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in the past two decades the design of cars has drastically decreased the visibility for drivers so that blindspots are larger, resulting in an increase in accidents.
Puzzled by traffic accident data showing that fatalities for cyclists and pedestrians had risen over the past 25 years, while car passenger deaths had come down, IIHS researchers wondered whether drivers might be finding it harder to see those more vulnerable road users.
And they discovered that successive versions of long-running popular cars had obstructed, more and more, a driver’s view of the 10 meters (33 ft) of space they were about to drive into. That near-car view, from the eye point of the average male driver, had shrunk on every one of six long-running models tested, IIHS testing showed, when an early (1997-plus) version was compared with the version on sale in 2023.
In the case of traditional cars, the near-car viewable area had contracted only slightly, the 7-8% reductions from the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry possibly even attributable to measurement error.
When it came to SUVs, however, the shrinkage was dramatic. The driver of a 1997 Honda CR-V could see 68% of a forward half-circle whose perimeter was 10 meters (33 ft) from their eye point – slightly more, in fact, than from the sedans that were tested. The driver of a 2023 CR-V could see just 28% of that semi-circle. In relative terms, the driver of the 2023 CR-V could see only 42% of what they would see from a 1997 model.
You can read the IIHS study here.
Why are designers doing this? One theory is that they are increasingly relying on cameras and software to replace the driver’s sight, and thus feel free to add obstructions to the car body that make it look cool. The problem is that these mechanical non-human solutions simply don’t work as well as the human brain, and thus drivers are hitting things more often.
But don’t worry. Soon AI will soon make it possible for cars will drive themselves! We will even be able to eliminate the windows entirely so that car travel will be an utterly private thing!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Could the CAFE standards be driving this outcome?
I believe there are numerous factors involved, including the shrinking of vehicle windows and the fact that vehicles are quieter and thus less likely to be heard by pedestrians.
There is another issue, though, that is the fault of the pedestrians, and the various rule-making bodies: Everywhere one goes these days, there is the thinking that pedestrians have the right of way, and there are even signs posted in the middle of roads stating that vehicles must yield for pedestrians. The intention is that vehicles not run over people in the roadway, but the actual belief many pedestrians have is that they have the right to cross at ANY time, regardless of any vehicles in proximity. The notion of “Look both ways before you cross the street!” has been lost.
My wife just recently traded in her old Subaru for a new 2024 Forester. The amount of obstruction for the driver’s view is simply frightening but it’s no worse than any of the other cars we tried. The rear-quarter view is completely obstructed and the driver is utterly dependent on the rear-view mirrors to check for traffic when merging. Since the mirrors can’t cover everything you end up moving your entire body to crane around and try to see if somebody is coming up behind you in that quarter.
Of course, they’ve got the little radar system that is SUPPOSED to warn you if somebody is there, but it’s very poor at picking up smaller things like bicycles, pedestrians, and even smaller motorcycles and scooters. On the other hand, it routinely picks up the garage door frame when backing out of the garage…and you can’t shut off that stinking beeper.
I’ll be amazed if more accidents aren’t going to be caused by the distraction of the humongous info-screens they seem intent on filling the dashboard with. You cannot in the wildest of imaginations keep your eyes on the road while trying to turn your defroster on using one of those things. Fortunately hers is the last year model in which the heating/cooling/fan controls are still knobs.
If we had our free choice (free of government interference) we’d pick a vehicle with NOTHING electronic on it except the ignition and fuel injection system. Give us a 5-speed and a clutch, cranks on the windows, and a simple radio.
Robert writes — “But don’t worry. Soon AI will make it possible for cars will drive themselves! We will even be able to eliminate the windows entirely so that car travel will be an utterly private thing!”
Is that sarcasm, or does it reflect genuine enthusiasm for the Elon Musk philosophy that human beings are — literally in this case — “just along for the ride” and ought not to be looking at anything except a touch screen. What, BTW, is the field of view in a Tesla Cybertruck? And here, finally, is an actual practical use for these things… https://gizmodo.com/the-air-force-wants-to-use-cybertrucks-for-target-practice-2000640105
While I am getting old enough that one day I will probably welcome a truly self-driving vehicle to maintain my mobility, I still enjoy driving as an active participant in the experience. And for visibility, nothing beats a convertible with the top down. Elon would no doubt be horrified, lol.
Realistically, I’d wager that one of the major factors in the loss of visibility for drivers is the shear size of the new vehicles and the proportionate increase in the size of the A B and C pillars, etc. Likewise the manufactures’ desire to come out with the most bizarre shapes possible, believing — apparently correctly — that the *uglier* the vehicle (and the larger it is), the better it will sell.
Here is some more commentary on this, from both the US and the UK
https://www.cars.com/articles/the-death-of-the-affordable-new-car-what-happened-to-the-20000-cars-507932/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CarTalkUK/comments/1inoq4e/the_slow_sad_death_of_the_affordable_car/
It is not just the Democratic Party that has gone insane.
The decrease in vision is less a matter of visual bodywork styling, and more a matter of the proliferation of airbags, microphones, screens, cameras, etc. All of this either requires space in the pillars themselves, or more commonly, is roof or ceiling mounted, but requires that it’s wiring make it past those things that are in the pillars. And then there are safety requirements that required that the bodywork crumple zones move a certain distance from the hard structures to provide crumple protection for pedestrians, not thinking about what that meant in terms of visibility and thus more vehicle-pedestrian collisions…
This is one of the two you want….
(age-restricted at YouTube)
“Signal 30”
Highway Safety Films, Inc. (1959)
https://archive.org/details/0869_Signal_30_07_00_59_00
“Red Asphalt” (1960)
California Highway Patrol
https://archive.org/details/RedAshaltI1960
(The California version of “Signal 30.”)
I think two things have made this worse with car design
1) The need to reduce C/D. Aerodynamic shapes tend to be lower with highly angled front windscreens and have much less upright seating positions to keep the roof low.
2) NHTSA safety issues. To strengthen up the roll cage of the car the A and C pillars tend to get heavier. In addition, some portion the side curtain airbags also often deploy from the A pillars. And of course slanted A pillars need to be far stronger than more vertical pillars to deal with rollovers or similar issues due to the simple dynamics of the forces. And because of SUVs the beltline on coupes and sedans (what few of them remain) have had to be raised to protect the occubant from side intrusion of the larger heavier SUVs.
As for pedestrians at least in cities folks really need to use the (expletive deleted) crosswalks. Dashing out from between groups of parked SUV’s is a sure way to startle a driver who may be already near or at task overload. I worked in Boston for 7 years and I don’t know how many close calls I saw, especially of young small women darting between SUV.s. I also saw driving home from work, a young girl dart between traffic and be struck by a mail truck. Her injuries looked minor but would have been worse had the Mail Truck have not just started moving.
I forgot to mention all the pedestrians who walk around with their eyes glued to their phones and/or their ears filled loud earbuds.
I think this story may just be an another attack on the notion of private automobiles—the author may be a Green.
I used to really enjoy the full driving experience, changing gears, etc. But my spouse wanted an automatic. Anyway, one advantage of some of the tech, adaptive cruise control in particular combined with “lane keeping”, is it drastically reduces the hassle of driving (if you want to call it that) in rush hour traffic.
Oh, My! This subject could fill a lot of pages (I will not).
We still have one car with no rear view camera. It is a 2006 sedan. It runs great with regular maintenance (oil, filter changes, etc}. The other huuuuge advantage to the 2006 is that it is fully PAID OFF.
Our other car is a 2015 SUV, also paid off, with a rear camera. When backing up, in the SUV or the sedan, if I have ANY doubt of the area behind, I get out and look. What a concept!
I cannot believe the number of times people walk behind our car, even when we are already moving, backing up. Even without a phone in their hands, they walk behind a moving vehicle. Yikes!
People need to not just drive defensively, but walk defensively. Whether driving or walking, we ALWAYS assume the other drivers cannot see us. Discretion and caution are the better part of breathing.
As for the people who look at their phones 24/7, well, The Darwin Awards is in their future. These days, walking on a sidewalk, staring into the phone, could lead to a collision with one of those EV scooters that drive way too fast. Crossing the road while staring at the phone is hilarious, sad, and dangerous. I once drove behind a person walking in the parking lot of a grocery store. I do not have an EV, so the internal combustion engine could be heard. This person was walking down the middle of the parking lot, staring at her phone, oblivious to the outside world. My wife and I just drove slowly behind her, shaking our heads, and thanking G-d for not being her.
Robert wrote: “”But don’t worry. Soon AI will soon make it possible for cars will drive themselves!””
The San Francisco WayMo driverless taxis are hilarious. There have been times where the taxis just stop, and won’t move. Also, thieves and thugs see easy prey. When stopped in traffic, thugs could easily break windows and rob the passenger(s), or worse. If stopped in traffic, we always leave space between cars, in case we have to move.
“”I’ll be amazed if more accidents aren’t going to be caused by the distraction of the humongous info-screens””
A friend has a large info screen in their hybrid sedan. It often warns her to not look at it………
The automotive press (both blogs and dinosaur media) have been pointing out the reduced visibility out of modern vehicles for over 20 years. Primary driver for all this has been increased crash safety regulations, rollover and side impact improvements in particular. Best ways to improve both results in a dramatic decrease in the size of the side windows due to high belt lines and thick pillars. Both of which also reduces outward visibility. Everything about vehicle design is a trade off, and often those tradeoffs are dictated by regulations.
The problem is standards requiring stronger A pillars.
You can’t change just ONE thing without consequences.
You can thank Ralph Nader for kicking off this idiocy.
I remember Nader at a Corvair club on C-SPAN.
Like Bernie, he would go anywhere and engage. The rumor was some folks had some lovely women as part of a honey trap–he didn’t fall for it.
Where you can trip he and his up is with Greens:
If Corvair was unsafe at any speed–are the Smart for Two even LESS safe? Electric scooter’s?
Gavin’s gulag is the worst state when it comes to motorists.
A way to blunt his own gerrymandering would be commercials showing Sen. Kelly and VP candidate Walz getting rid of Teslas in favor of big trucks–with a commercial asking that if those two:
“have the right to buy the vehicles of their choice–shouldn’t you? Not if Gavin has his way and appoint’s his stooges. Me, I’ll stay home election day to send Governor Gulag a message– quit harassing motorists like me.!”
“they are increasingly relying on cameras and software to replace the driver’s sight,”
I’ve read differently:
– sloping the windscreen to get a more aerodynamic profile to reduce drag and improve MPG/KPL & meet emissions rules moves the lower edge forward
– moving the windscreen forward to reduce chance of impact of front persons’ heads in the case of a frontal impact, especially for those who don’t wear seatbelts. Designers joked they were designing “postman pat” vans.
– need to still be able to support the vehicle in the event of a rollover – sloped beams bend easier, so there’s some little supports increasing the blind spots in the ‘quarter’ window area.
– the pillar width has a max legal size, and while it could be narrower and still do the job – company lawyers are concerned ill informed juries will be swayed with a “wider beam is stronger” argument and the company will lose $m in damages (see the McDonalds payout to a driver who put a hot coffee between their thighs and then scolded themselves when they braked hard and complained they weren’t told fresh made coffee is very hot!).
From the comments above, it seems clear that none of those commenters have owned, driven or likely even been in a Tesla. Some notes:
The observed smallish physical blind spot view areas also exist on the Model Y. However, the cameras on the pillars provide a view on the screen when the turn signal is activated. There is also a representation of everything around the car depicted on the screen in real time all the time. Being old school, I use my eyes as well as the cameras/screens.
This car does have the Full Self Driving software. Every week I have a single 240 mile commute going through towns and cities, on two lane roads and freeways. Although I also do like to drive, you can imagine it gets a bit monotonous week after week, even when varying the route a bit.
Regardless of route choice, whenever it is used FSD handles the drive with smoothness and human-like precision. It navigates construction zones, avoids potholes, works through heavy traffic, seemingly perceives the hand gestures of other drivers. It problem solves ahead of time, sees in all directions at once, and never gets emotional or frazzled by challenging driving conditions.
It is annoyingly safety conscious (I am admittedly an aggressive driver.). So far this year I have not had an intervention where I had to take control that wasn’t routing related. Zero safety interventions.
I select a destination, press a button on the screen, and the car just takes me there, even backing into Supercharger stalls and parking spaces at the market.
My friends and I have attempted to recreate a few of those FSD youtube videos. This version is very good. We have been unable to run over each other. The car successfully avoids or stops for whatever is tossed in its way. It just works.
We aren’t at the stage of the flawless AI driver, not quite yet. The steering wheels will remain in new cars for quite some time to come. But we are getting very close.
It’s not just cars and SUVs that have visibility issues. My school bus has a forest of pillars and mirrors that make pulling away from a stop a multi-step process. They train us to bob fore and aft to make sure the area is clear (I’m totally toning my abs this way), and we also do a five-point check of mirrors. It’s not like driving my old ’65 Corvair, where the A-pillars were so thin they barely blocked my vision at all.
I wonder if the Pacer’s greenhouse counted as corrective lenses :)