We've made enormous progress in holding up under collision, but giant steps back in collision avoidance. I remember around 5 years ago seeing a concept for the

We've made enormous progress in holding up under collision, but giant steps back in collision avoidance. I remember around 5 years ago seeing a concept for the "car of the future" as basically a glass box optimizing visibility. In fact we've done the opposite: high beltlines, low and elongated roofs, rear visibility and rear side windows approaching zero. Volkswagen makes just about the only high-quality compact in the neighborhood of $20k that you can actually see out of. Mazda3, Prius, Elantra, etc. are seemingly part of a concerted effort to make the greatest amount of damage possible to the driver's situational awareness. Why? Just so they can sell you the blindspot monitoring options?