Friday 6th October 2006

Safety concerns over 'A' pillars

Sorry mate, I didn't see you...

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Biker disappears behind 'A' pillar

The dangers posed by ever-thicker 'A' pillars in today's strengthened cars is coming increasingly under scrutiny. Research findings published yesterday by Autoglass warn drivers of 4x4 vehicles about the dangers of A pillar blind spots.

Road safety campaign Safe Speed campaign said it's been highlighting this danger for years but warned that that it isn't only 4x4 vehicles that suffer these problems.

'A' pillar blind spots are believed to be a common cause of 'Sorry mate, I didn't see you' (SMIDSY) crashes, and are especially dangerous to bikers.

Following Safe Speed's work on the issue with Bike magazine, published in September 2004, the Department for Transport commissioned urgent research. Safe Sped said it believed that the research was completed in March 2004, but that it remains unpublished for reasons unknown.

Campaign founder Paul Smith said: "Many cars in all classes have 'A pillars' that are wide enough to cause potential dangerous obstructions to drivers' vision. Safe Speed has been working to highlight the issue since 2002. Our findings, warnings and recommendations are published on the Web (see link below).

"The warnings published by Autoglass should be extended to all drivers. Making cars stronger and more 'crashworthy' has had the side-effect of making A pillars wider and stronger. The effects on drivers' vision have been largely ignored until recently."

• Safe Speed's SMIDSY research

[flooritforever]

This is all too true. Thick 'A' pillars can be a right pain. Don't have this trouble in my car, as it's hardly modern, but have to deal with it frequently at work.

We have two armoured security vans that I drive regularly, and the nature of the armour raound the cab means that the 'A' pillars are much thicker than they would normally be. At junctions and roundabouts, the can stop you from easily seeing large sections of road. And when that happens, pulling out gets pretty damn difficult...

And if everyday cars are getting this problem, it could cause a lot of accidents. Cos Mr or Mrs Average 'Driving is a chore, just get me where I'm going' ain't gonna really look much harder to compensate for the reduced visibilty.