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I don't care so much about the edges. I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. The below report

I don't care so much about the edges. I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. The below report focuses on kids, but I'm an adult and some of these trucks seem taller than me. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investigates/13-investigates-millions-vehicles-have-unexpected-dangerous-front-blind-zone/531-9521c471-3bc1-4b55-b860-3363f0954b3b https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investig...

throw0101c 1y ago
> I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. There's a bit of meme that an M1 Abrams tank has better forward visibility than many SUVs/pickups: * https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/140dgn8/many_popular_trucks_have_a_bigger_dead_spot_in/ https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/140dgn8/many_popu...
- detaro 1y ago
  So we need to arm children, so SUV drivers also consider good visibility a feature for their safety, just like the M1 designers did.
timw0j 1y ago
I drive a Mini. I frequently notice how the hoods of these trucks are taller than my entire car.
- al_borland 1y ago
  I drive a smaller hatchback as well and notice the same thing. I’ve been on the other side of it once. I got roped into driving an acquaintance’s H3 Hummer years ago. I went to change lanes, checked my mirrors, looked over my shoulder out the window, and all seems clear. It wasn’t. There was a car that was completely invisible to me. Had other people not been in the car and looking, I would have run them right off the road. I have no idea how anyone drives those things on a daily basis. I was a nervous wreck. I think the best visibility I had in a car was my old GTI. I could see all 4 corners and knew exactly where I was at.
juggern 1y ago
[flagged]
- defrost 1y ago
  You're neglecting observed empirical data: A 10cm increase in bonnet height, from 80cm to 90cm, raises the risk of death in a crash by 27% for pedestrians and cyclists, according to a Belgian study involving 300,000 casualties. Children were substantially more likely to be killed as pedestrians in collisions than adults, the report said. ~ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/11/ever-rising-height-car-bonnets-suv-threat-to-children-report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/11/ever-rising-he... Apparently having all those cameras isn't correlating well with people actually paying attention to them.
- al_borland 1y ago
  They showed some of that technology in the video. The owner of the car had no idea it existed. There is an issue of having the tech, and then a secondary issue of awareness and use. All three need to be true for it to be useful.
- jjav 1y ago
  > thanks to all of the cameras and sensors everywhere. Cameras are a band-aid that help a bit, but nothing beats actual clear visibility in all directions, something which newer cars lack. My partner has a newish VW and it's a menace to drive IMO. For example turning left onto our street, just when I need to see clearly if there is anyone on that street (it's a neighborhood of lots of kids) all I see is a giant A pillar and even more giant rearview mirror, blocking most of the view to the left. I have to contort in all directions back and forth to look around these obstacles which creates its own safety concerns. Visibility to the rear quarters is also terrible. On my older cars with low doorlines and thin pillars I have perfect visibility into any turn, 100x safer.
- Gud 1y ago
  All these things exist in smaller cars.
  - 1y ago

throw0101c 1y ago

> I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. There's a bit of meme that an M1 Abrams tank has better forward visibility than many SUVs/pickups: * https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/140dgn8/many_popular_trucks_have_a_bigger_dead_spot_in/ https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/140dgn8/many_popu...

detaro 1y ago
So we need to arm children, so SUV drivers also consider good visibility a feature for their safety, just like the M1 designers did.

timw0j 1y ago

I drive a Mini. I frequently notice how the hoods of these trucks are taller than my entire car.

al_borland 1y ago
I drive a smaller hatchback as well and notice the same thing. I’ve been on the other side of it once. I got roped into driving an acquaintance’s H3 Hummer years ago. I went to change lanes, checked my mirrors, looked over my shoulder out the window, and all seems clear. It wasn’t. There was a car that was completely invisible to me. Had other people not been in the car and looking, I would have run them right off the road. I have no idea how anyone drives those things on a daily basis. I was a nervous wreck. I think the best visibility I had in a car was my old GTI. I could see all 4 corners and knew exactly where I was at.

juggern 1y ago

[flagged]

defrost 1y ago
You're neglecting observed empirical data: A 10cm increase in bonnet height, from 80cm to 90cm, raises the risk of death in a crash by 27% for pedestrians and cyclists, according to a Belgian study involving 300,000 casualties. Children were substantially more likely to be killed as pedestrians in collisions than adults, the report said. ~ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/11/ever-rising-height-car-bonnets-suv-threat-to-children-report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/11/ever-rising-he... Apparently having all those cameras isn't correlating well with people actually paying attention to them.
al_borland 1y ago
They showed some of that technology in the video. The owner of the car had no idea it existed. There is an issue of having the tech, and then a secondary issue of awareness and use. All three need to be true for it to be useful.
jjav 1y ago
> thanks to all of the cameras and sensors everywhere. Cameras are a band-aid that help a bit, but nothing beats actual clear visibility in all directions, something which newer cars lack. My partner has a newish VW and it's a menace to drive IMO. For example turning left onto our street, just when I need to see clearly if there is anyone on that street (it's a neighborhood of lots of kids) all I see is a giant A pillar and even more giant rearview mirror, blocking most of the view to the left. I have to contort in all directions back and forth to look around these obstacles which creates its own safety concerns. Visibility to the rear quarters is also terrible. On my older cars with low doorlines and thin pillars I have perfect visibility into any turn, 100x safer.
Gud 1y ago
All these things exist in smaller cars.
- 1y ago