Blind spots

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Tue 26 Mar 2002 18:36
Blind spots - Mahatma Coate
I'm in full rant today.

What is it about modern design that means you must have an enormous blind spot caused by the driver's side A pillar? Just about everything I have driven recently has been awful, the Beetle takes the biscuit but the BMW 3 series is pretty bad too. The Golf is terrible too now I come to think about it.

I'm 5 foot 10 so I'm about the 50th percentile, guess there must be lots suffering worse than me.

Makes that Volvo concept with see-thru pillars seem like a good idea.
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Tue 26 Mar 2002 19:43
Re: Blind spots - John S
I've not noticed A pillars as a problem, but there is certainly some evidence of C pillar blind spots due to styling. Golf is a definite example.

It may be that the A pillars have been getting bigger due to the need to provide adequate crash resistance to meet current standards. That said Saab windscreen pillars are apparently able to resist contact with a moose, and they don't appear heavier than usual.

Regards

John
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Tue 26 Mar 2002 20:36
Re: Blind spots - Andrew Hamilton
I have a blind spot where overtaking vehicles come alongside the panel van. Cheap solution was to fit another rearview mirror to cover this. Why those artics do not do not fit extra mirrors I do not know.
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Wed 27 Mar 2002 01:52
Re: Blind spots - Sadam I Urwot
Andrew,
Artics have "extra mirrors" fitted as standard these days. If you look at the older artics you will see two mirrors fitted on the mirror arm. The most modern ones have one mirror with a split field of view, one part of the mirror shows the rear view close to the trailer and the outer part shows the view further out in the rear roadway.
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Thu 28 Mar 2002 16:55
Re: Blind spots - Spud
I found this to be unacceptable when I test drove the new Honda Jazz.
It had a very wide A-Pillar and I found myself leaning to the left and right
in order to see properly when negotiating roundabouts. A cyclist could so
easily become invisible to the driver. I've noticed that the Picasso A-Pillars
go forward a long way, and I wonder what the view is like in those too.
I don't think I would like to be able to see the pillars in my line of vision
all the time.
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