A new vehicle safety analysis method shows that some top-selling vehicles’ blind spots have expanded significantly over the past quarter-century.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety compared the driver vision ranges in half a dozen models that included SUVs, cars and a pickup truck. It found that as the vehicles were redesigned over the decades, drivers’ forward visibility fell, especially for the SUVs and pickup.
As the three examined SUVs underwent several redesigns between 1997 and 2023, the driver’s forward visibility within about a 10-yard radius plummeted by as much as 58%. The truck’s near-distance visibility fell 17% after starting out with “extremely” large blind spots.
By contrast, the cars’ driver visibility started out relatively good and fell by less than 8% over its redesigns.
IIHS examined the Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota Camry changed over model years 1997 to 2023, which involved 17 separate designs among the six.
To map driver blind spots, it used computational software and a portable camera rig. It’s now comparing blind spots for about 150 vehicle models.
The nonprofit group noted that the erosion in driver visibility has coincided with a surge in cyclist and pedestrian traffic deaths. It said the comparison method could help it study vehicle design’s effect on crash risk.
During the studied time period, the organization said U.S. pedestrian fatalities have spiked 37% and cyclist traffic deaths by 42%.
IIHS says other factors also likely play a part in the increased fatalities, including increases in speeding and inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, as well as vehicle size and shape changes. In the latter, it’s linked higher front ends in higher-speed crashes and those with blunt front ends to increased fatality risk, for instance.
