Thick A-pillars obstructing view: how do you handle it?
Discussion
I test drove a car (Mazda CX-30) that has quite thick front A-pillars (much thicker than other cars like Subaru XV, Suzuki Vitara or Seat Arona for instance). This obstructs the forward/sideways view. This is especially true when I’m at an intersection and I need to check if cars/bikes/humans are coming from the left (I drive on the right side of the road).
I’ve been told that this is a problem with other modern cars too. So I was wondering, you who also drive a car with thick A-pillars and have this problem…Do you mitigate it in any way? Or must we really bob our heads left and right to make sure there is nothing in these blind spots? (Obviously mirrors are of no use here with this particular type of blind spot).
I’ve been told that this is a problem with other modern cars too. So I was wondering, you who also drive a car with thick A-pillars and have this problem…Do you mitigate it in any way? Or must we really bob our heads left and right to make sure there is nothing in these blind spots? (Obviously mirrors are of no use here with this particular type of blind spot).
Edited by Carmonkey7 on Monday 29th July 10:20
Carmonkey7 said:
Or must we really bob our heads left and right to make sure there is nothing in these blind spots?
A-pillars? They're just the start of it. You'd have hysterics following me in traffic. I'm bobbing and weaving, ducking and diving all over the show trying to keep up with what's happening. Actually, you might not. You might think I was having some sort of medical episode.
Back in the 80s/90s when I used to be an obsessive car magazine reader, I'm sure that visibility was an important part of road tests. Including to the front. Now I get the impression that poor visibility is just accepted as the norm. Cameras help with parking (not that my 58 Vectra has them) but pulling out of junctions I guess we do just accept that we have to look around the pillar more than we used to.
Randy Winkman said:
Back in the 80s/90s when I used to be an obsessive car magazine reader, I'm sure that visibility was an important part of road tests. Including to the front. Now I get the impression that poor visibility is just accepted as the norm. Cameras help with parking (not that my 58 Vectra has them) but pulling out of junctions I guess we do just accept that we have to look around the pillar more than we used to.
Interesting that they don’t consider visibility to the front anymore then… I really did appreciate the totally different feel of the XV and the Vitara compared to the Mazda in this respect. Big windows, smaller pillars overall. But yeah…they lose on other some aspects comparatively.DickyC said:
Carmonkey7 said:
Or must we really bob our heads left and right to make sure there is nothing in these blind spots?
A-pillars? They're just the start of it. You'd have hysterics following me in traffic. I'm bobbing and weaving, ducking and diving all over the show trying to keep up with what's happening. Actually, you might not. You might think I was having some sort of medical episode.
What car are you driving?
Carmonkey7 said:
DickyC said:
Carmonkey7 said:
Or must we really bob our heads left and right to make sure there is nothing in these blind spots?
A-pillars? They're just the start of it. You'd have hysterics following me in traffic. I'm bobbing and weaving, ducking and diving all over the show trying to keep up with what's happening. Actually, you might not. You might think I was having some sort of medical episode.
What car are you driving?
A-Pillars are just another example of occupant safety being prioritised over that of other road users, with many accidents occurring on roundabouts and junctions because of A-pillar blind spots.
The frustration is that the technology exists to mitigate it. Manufacturers fit rear view cameras now instead of side and interior mirrors, how hard would it be to fit front-facing cameras and a screen built into the A pillar? A 14 year-old solved it as a project in 2019...
https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/teen-sol...
Should it not feature as part of safety assessments such as NCAP?
The frustration is that the technology exists to mitigate it. Manufacturers fit rear view cameras now instead of side and interior mirrors, how hard would it be to fit front-facing cameras and a screen built into the A pillar? A 14 year-old solved it as a project in 2019...
https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/teen-sol...
Should it not feature as part of safety assessments such as NCAP?
Robertb said:
A-Pillars are just another example of occupant safety being prioritised over that of other road users, with many accidents occurring on roundabouts and junctions because of A-pillar blind spots.
The frustration is that the technology exists to mitigate it. Manufacturers fit rear view cameras now instead of side and interior mirrors, how hard would it be to fit front-facing cameras and a screen built into the A pillar? A 14 year-old solved it as a project in 2019...
https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/teen-sol...
Should it not feature as part of safety assessments such as NCAP?
Love the solution and it looks awesome. I read somewhere that the a-pillars may have airbags inside them though so not sure if this could work if they want to preserve the airbags (are they essential to be in those pillars to begin with?)The frustration is that the technology exists to mitigate it. Manufacturers fit rear view cameras now instead of side and interior mirrors, how hard would it be to fit front-facing cameras and a screen built into the A pillar? A 14 year-old solved it as a project in 2019...
https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/teen-sol...
Should it not feature as part of safety assessments such as NCAP?
robinessex said:
This is the view exiting the road where I live. From the Red car on the left, all the cars and the road are completely invisible to me due to the thick A pillar on my car. I've now resorted to stopping a bit diagonally so I can see what's coming.
I guess you’re driving on the left side of the road right? What car if I may ask?Carmonkey7 said:
robinessex said:
I guess you’re driving on the left side of the road right? What car if I may ask?At work we have a 10 mph limit in the car park. I watched a large SUV approach a T-junction looking for a space (I was watching from kitchen above in the office). Another vehicle was approaching so I was expecting the SUV to stop at the junction.
So both were approaching at 10mph and the SUV should had stopped and given way but it just pulled straight out continuing to look for a space. The other car had to emergency brake.
At first I couldn't understand how the SUV didn't see it coming since they were both going 10mph approaching each other for about 5 seconds. It was only later that I realised the A-pillar was so big that the driver would not have seen the other car for the whole approach as it was completely in the A-pillar view for the whole 5 seconds. The SUV driver would have thought that she was the only driver in the car park at that time. Both PHEV/EV so no engine noise either.
So both were approaching at 10mph and the SUV should had stopped and given way but it just pulled straight out continuing to look for a space. The other car had to emergency brake.
At first I couldn't understand how the SUV didn't see it coming since they were both going 10mph approaching each other for about 5 seconds. It was only later that I realised the A-pillar was so big that the driver would not have seen the other car for the whole approach as it was completely in the A-pillar view for the whole 5 seconds. The SUV driver would have thought that she was the only driver in the car park at that time. Both PHEV/EV so no engine noise either.
All the pillars block every view one needs to check and double check. While it means one is generally driving as if Rod Hull has his hand up your 'arris the trade off is that you can pull more Evil Kneival moves and walk away.
When driving a much older car with pencil pillars it is manifestly more relaxing and at junctions your double check doesn't turn into a quad check, funky chicken act. One just must remember that that when sliding it down the road on the roof or pulling a barrel roll to impress the ladies you really need to duck much, much lower.
Modern pillars are a pain but one worth living with. And I'm pretty sure they help prevent the glass from being damaged when pedestrians of cyclists are inclined to hurl themselves at your car, as is their love.
When driving a much older car with pencil pillars it is manifestly more relaxing and at junctions your double check doesn't turn into a quad check, funky chicken act. One just must remember that that when sliding it down the road on the roof or pulling a barrel roll to impress the ladies you really need to duck much, much lower.
Modern pillars are a pain but one worth living with. And I'm pretty sure they help prevent the glass from being damaged when pedestrians of cyclists are inclined to hurl themselves at your car, as is their love.
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