Car Designs Make it Harder to See Pedestrians

We know cars are getting bigger — but they’re also becoming much harder to see out of, writes David Zipper in Bloomberg CityLab.

Zipper points to one major culprit: the A-pillar, the part of a car’s frame that blocks a driver’s vision out their windshield. “For passengers, thicker A-pillars provide protection in the event of a rollover, preventing the roof from caving in. But their girth can also expand driver blind spots, exacerbating danger for the pedestrians and cyclists who have been dying at record-setting levels on US roadways,” Zipper explains.

Because carmakers focus on the safety of those inside vehicles and A-pillars help prevent injury in rollovers, they are getting bigger at the expense of pedestrians. However, studies show that rollover crashes are on the decline thanks to electronic stability control, making stronger roofs less important.

Meanwhile, “If the safety effects of stronger A-pillars is neutral to positive for vehicle occupants, the converse is true for those walking, biking or inside other cars.” Blind zones in most car models are expanding, and federal regulators do not seem poised to step in anytime soon. According to Matt Reed, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan, “the complexity of calculating the size and danger of A-pillar blind zones presents a formidable regulatory obstacle” because of the cost-benefit analysis required for federal rulemaking.