I've been driving a 2005 Honda Odyssey van for 18 years. It has excellent visibility out the back. My wife has a 2015 Mazda CX-5. Poor visibility out the bac

I've been driving a 2005 Honda Odyssey van for 18 years. It has excellent visibility out the back. My wife has a 2015 Mazda CX-5. Poor visibility out the back but it has a fair backup camera. In May, 2018 every car was required to have a backup camera. [0] It feels like car manufacturers don't even consider visibility out the back anymore since they can rely on the camera. For a while I drove a Jaguar, which had the leaping Jaguar hood ornament. Those were prohibited in Europe and manufacturers moved away from them. [1] Years ago, I read that hoods were required to be higher (which blocks vision in front of the vehicle) to form a crumple zone. The idea was that a pedestrian would be tossed up in the air, land on the hood, and it would give rather than having the solid engine underneath. [2] So there are definitely some governmental reasons why manufacturers do what they do. Thicker pillars protect passengers but reduce visibility. Etc. And most customers want bigger cars. [0] https://www.autoinsurance.org/are-backup-cameras-required-on-new-vehicles-updated/#:~:text=The%20backup%20camera%20law%20went,required%20to%20have%20backup%20cameras https://www.autoinsurance.org/are-backup-cameras-required-on... [1] https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/cars-trucks/auto-history/car-hood-ornaments/#:~:text=Perhaps%20the%20biggest%20factor%20in,a%20person%20during%20a%20collision https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/cars-trucks/au.... [2] https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/12/07/while-other-countries-mandate-safer-car-designs-for-pedestrians-america-does-nothing https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/12/07/while-other-countries...