A revelation about 'blind spots'

[MacB]

With a modern car it is easy to lose a HGV in the windscreen pillar on the approach to a roundabout. The blind spot sweeps around the roaundabout on approach and is big enough to hide the HGV as it is negotiating the roundabout.

I often shift my head about to get a better look past the pillar. Unfortunately it is all part of the strength of the passenger compartment in case of a crash or roll over.

I sometimes wonder how much non drivers have been affected by the ever improving safety features of cars?

 

[Night Train]

I sometimes wonder how much non drivers have been affected by the ever improving safety features of cars?

They are supposed to be a bit better for other road users, outside the car, now but nothing beats better driving, and that is free, weighs nothing and even reduces motoring costs.
It won't catch on though.

 

[Brains]

Having recently gone from 20+ years of driving Landrovers to now driving a Citroen Berlingo - I'm amazed at the restricted vision on modern cars.

 

[Arch]

I sometimes wonder how much non drivers have been affected by the ever improving safety features of cars?

I think it was documented that when seat belts became compulsory, pedestrian and cyclist deaths went up. Drivers felt safer, no matter what.

Make seat belts compulsory for passengers, and illegal for drivers, and replace them with a spike in the middle of the steering wheel...

I'd agree on a 2CV, or an old Mini or similar. Not only better visibility, but the impression of driving something made out of takeaway carton tinfoil, complete with rattling components, really made you appreciate how fast 30mph is.

The other thing about modern cars is the complete inability to see where the edges are, because the bodywork curves away so sleekly. Not such an issue at speed, but it seems to make most people completely unaware of how wide their vehicle is. Although it's often in a 'positive' way as they edge terrified through a gap you could get a bus through.

 

[Bicycle]

Crikey, you think the Zafira has good view? I thought it had a terrible pillar blocking large amounts of view to my right.

Here's a roundabout incident I feel fairly sure is an A-frame pillar occlusion. Still the driver's fault though.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=grU1RJIf71E

Yes, Zafiras are good.

The A-pillars are thick, but the offside one is quite a distance from the driver's eyes, which improves things considerably. They also have that funky little Vauxhall/Opel quarter-light thing that gives a usable extra amount of glass on the nearside (although almost useless on the offside).

From a bicycle-safety point of view, the door mirrors are excellent, the driving position slightly raised and the exterior slab-sided. The side windows are all large and flat. I drove one quite a lot some years ago and found it one of the easiest modern-era cars to see out of.

The thickness of the A-pillars is not always the defining dimension. The Zafira is not a car I'm fond of (who could be?), but it is not a thick-pillar culprit.

I agree with other posters who mention moving the head. This seems not to be taught to new drivers - and if taught then not bashed home.

Whilst legislation in this vein will never be more than a fantasy, I do think there's something in the notion that traffic harmony would be made less unlikely if every road user were encouraged to spend a while navigating all of the following through the streets: Bicycle, Motorcycle, Car, Lorry, PSV.

I have never driven a bus and am unlikely to now, but experience of all the others has helped no end with sharing roadspace with them.

 

[RRCC]

Yes, Zafiras are good.

The A-pillars are thick, but the offside one is quite a distance from the driver's eyes, which improves things considerably. They also have that funky little Vauxhall/Opel quarter-light thing that gives a usable extra amount of glass on the nearside (although almost useless on the offside).

From a bicycle-safety point of view, the door mirrors are excellent, the driving position slightly raised and the exterior slab-sided. The side windows are all large and flat. I drove one quite a lot some years ago and found it one of the easiest modern-era cars to see out of.

The thickness of the A-pillars is not always the defining dimension. The Zafira is not a car I'm fond of (who could be?), but it is not a thick-pillar culprit.

Having owned both the current model is considerably worse than the original one you drove. It requires considerable head movement to see around the a pillars. The mirrors are good though.

 

[Arch]

Whilst legislation in this vein will never be more than a fantasy, I do think there's something in the notion that traffic harmony would be made less unlikely if every road user were encouraged to spend a while navigating all of the following through the streets: Bicycle, Motorcycle, Car, Lorry, PSV.

I have never driven a bus and am unlikely to now, but experience of all the others has helped no end with sharing roadspace with them.

Hear hear!

Even more radically, I'd suggest some system for checking licence applicants for the presence of a brain...

 

[Bicycle]

Hear hear!

Even more radically, I'd suggest some system for checking licence applicants for the presence of a brain...

Errr... I'm not in favour of that one. I can't say why.

Some other members of this forum might suspect they already know my reasons, but I don't want to discuss them here.

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Hear hear!
Even more radically, I'd suggest some system for checking licence applicants for the presence of a brain...

The Germans would never allow it to get through on the basis that it would introduce a barrier to free trade for BMW and Audi.

 

[Tynan]

been driving a Zafira for the last five years and got them after driving them on hols, I find them fine, at worse you have to make a slight effort

I forget which was the horror, something in that class for sure

I had a Ford Galaxy for a while as a courtesy car, lovely that car was, just a tad pricey

 

[slowmotion]

Sometimes I drive a small white van. It is impossible to see anything in the rear view mirror, and obviously there are no back windows. You rely entirely on your wing mirrors to see what is going on anywhere behind your ears. As a result, you have huge blind spots and the only way to survive is to make really extreme head movements after glancing in the mirror in order to check that you have not missed something. Sorry, I'll get to the point eventually.....

Riding down a wide main road in London today at about 15 mph, my side of the road was clear, as was the other side, except for a Transit type van that was stationary and pointing at 45 degrees to my side of the road. I was pretty sure that he was about to attempt a U turn. About 15 yards before I was due to pass him, he started making the turn really quickly. I just could not believe that I was not glaringly evident. He stopped about three feet from the gutter with me in the gap. He mouthed a few SMIDSY comments. My best guess is that as he turned I just remained in his mirror blind spot as I came closer. I was a bit spooked. Blind spots are baaaaad.

 

[BentMikey]

For that matter, you can be right in front of someone, obvious to view, and they can still miss you doing something like a scan error.

 

[slowmotion]

For that matter, you can be right in front of someone, obvious to view, and they can still miss you doing something like a scan error.

Searching for one on their Blackberry, probably.