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Forbes
16 hours ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Blind Zones Block Drivers' Vision In Newer Vehicles, Study Shows
In some newer vehicles, blind zones are getting bigger and blocking drivers' vision. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The blind zones of six popular passenger vehicles – Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota Camry – grew substantially over the past 25 years and resulted in a decrease in forward visibility. Those are the main take-a-ways of a new study that evaluated the role newer vehicle design plays in driver visibility, released on Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) , a nonprofit financed by the insurance industry. The research found that in some newer vehicles, blind zones are getting bigger and blocking drivers' vision. 'The across-the-board decrease in visibility for this small group of models is concerning. We need to investigate whether this is a broader trend that may have contributed to the recent spike in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities,' David Harkey, the Insurance Institute's president, said in a statement. The study to assess how newer vehicle designs can block drivers' vision was conducted by the United States Department of Transportation's Volpe Center using a new technique of measuring a driver's direct area of vision around a vehicle that was developed by the Insurance Institute. The new method uses computational software and a portable camera rig to create a blind zone map and is more efficient than traditional blind zone mapping, the Institute said. Researchers examined and compared how the designs of the six top-selling vehicles changed over model years 1997 to 2023. Visibility reductions were most pronounced for the SUVs. Forward visibility within a 10-meter radius fell as much as 58% for three popular SUVs, according to the study. The most dramatic reduction came for the Honda CR-V, as the vehicle's hood, mirrors and A-pillars all obstructed a greater portion of the driver's view over time. Drivers of the 1997 model were able to see 68% of the area 10 meters in front of the vehicle, while drivers of the 2022 model can see only 28%. For the Honda CR-V (and the 2000 Suburban) the biggest changes in the blind zone were due to a higher hood that blocked more of the frontal plane and larger side mirrors that obscured the views at their front corners. In contrast, the early models of the two cars provided relatively good visibility that fell less than 8% in later generations, researchers said. The visibility reductions for the two cars were less severe. The smallest decrease came for the Accord, which permitted the driver to see 65% of the area 10 meters in front of the vehicle in 2003 and 60% in 2023. For the Camry, visibility decreased from 61% in 2007 to 57% in 2023. 'These results are notable because we already know that the portion of SUVs in the U.S. fleet grew substantially over these years as well,' Becky Mueller, senior research engineer at the Insurance Institute, said in a statement. She led the development of the new mapping technique and is a co-author of the Volpe Center study. 'If further research confirms that these changes reflect a general change, that would suggest that declining visibility in SUVs has compounded the effects of taller, blunt-nosed vehicles that IIHS has already documented,' Mueller added. The results of the study point to a troubling trend during the 25-year period assessed, according to the report, a time when pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities on U.S roads soared. Insurance Institute researchers noted that little is known about what role driver visibility has played in the increase, but they are in the process of conducting additional research to understand how blind zones affect pedestrian crash rates and insurance claims. For more information about the research, click here .
Auto Blog
a day ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
See Less, Hit More: How Your New Car's Blind Spots Are Expanding
Blind spots are the new safety issue Today's new cars offer a litany of cool, groundbreaking technology, whether it's smartphone integration features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cameras capturing 360-degree views around the vehicle, or 'safety suites' that help prevent collisions with other cars and pedestrians. Although significant advances have made cars faster, more efficient, and safer, data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that over the 25-year period from 1997 to 2022, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities on U.S. roads have increased by 37% and 42%, respectively. A new study produced using new technology developed by safety experts at the IIHS shows that there could be another factor in this unfortunate phenomenon. 0:03 / 0:09 Chevrolet says a next-gen Camaro is still possible. What could it look like? Watch More 2025 Toyota Camry XSE — Source: Toyota IIHS-developed tech exposed the truth about cars' visibility In a new study led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Volpe Center, new technology developed by the IIHS was used to measure the driver's direct area of vision around a vehicle to examine how vehicle design factors in driver visibility and the risk of getting into a crash. They found that over the course of multiple redesigns from 1997 to 2023, six popular cars sold in the United States, the Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Camry, got progressively harder to see out of over the 25-year span they existed on the market. The IIHS-developed tech uses computational software and a portable, adjustable 360-degree camera that can be mounted at various heights to represent different-sized drivers. The software then takes the images from the 360-degree camera and turns them into a blind zone map. This map gives an overhead view of the vehicle, shows the closest spots on the ground that the driver can see, and calculates a percentage that reflects how much of the area around the vehicle is visible. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. The Center and the Institute looked at how well a theoretical driver could see out front of their cars within a 10-meter radius, which is roughly the distance a driver needs to stop when going 10 mph, a speed at which blind spots can really contribute to accidents. The researchers then figured out the percentage of the 180-degree area in front of the car that is clear of obstacles that can block the view, like the hood, rearview mirror, and A-pillars. 2025 Chevrolet Suburban High Country — Source: Chevrolet According to the IIHS, SUVs and crossovers saw some of the sharpest reductions in forward vision space. Their data shows that 1997 Honda CR-V drivers can see 68% of everything 10 meters ahead, but that 2023 CR-V drivers could see just 28% across the same distance. The bigger Chevrolet Suburban showed similar results. The cameras showed that drivers in the 2000 Suburban were able to see 56% of the area 10 meters in front of them, but just 28% across the same distance in the 2023 model. The researchers found that in both the CR-V and the Suburban, the blind zones got smaller because of a taller hood that blocks more of what's in front, combined with bigger side mirrors that mess with the view at the front corners. The IIHS also found that the forward visibility provided by the F-150 declined, although it already started from a low percentage from the outset. Despite its rounded design, drivers in the 1997 F-150 were only able to see 43% of the forward area within a 10-meter radius, which dropped to just 36% by the 2015 model year. However, sedans performed better than SUVs and trucks, although they also suffered from the same issues. Forward visibility in the 2003 Honda Accord was 65%, dropping to just 60% for the 2023 model year. The Accord's main competitor, the Toyota Camry, saw similar results; drivers in the 2007 Camry had 61% forward visibility, dropping to 57% in the 2023 model. Final Thoughts The new data shows that new cars are harder to see out of than ever before. However, the fact that SUVs and crossovers are hotter than ever before, combined with the fact that there's a design-inflicted decline in the ability to see out of them, means we may have a serious problem on our hands. 'These results are notable because we already know that the portion of SUVs in the U.S. fleet grew substantially over these years as well,' said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Becky Mueller. 'If further research confirms that these changes reflect a general change, that would suggest that declining visibility in SUVs has compounded the effects of taller, blunt-nosed vehicles that IIHS has already documented.' About the Author James Ochoa View Profile
Car and Driver
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Cars' Forward Blind Zones Are Worse Now Than 25 Years Ago: Study
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has developed a new way to measure a driver's outward visibility from a vehicle. DOT researchers used the method to examine the change in what a driver can see out of multiple generations of popular vehicles produced over the past 25 years. The results show that, for the selected vehicles (Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord and CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Camry), the outward view has decreased. When we review a new vehicle, we pay close attention to how easy or difficult it is to see out of, and that information makes it into everything from road tests to comparisons to our buyer's guide. But even our exhaustive test regimen doesn't spit out a quantifiable value for outward visibility. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has a new method to look at what drivers can't look at, and the results of a DOT study using the method suggest that things have gotten worse over the past quarter-century. The IIHS came up with an easier way to repeatably measure and compare what a driver can see in a 180-degree forward-facing view out of a vehicle. The method involves a special portable camera rig that captures a driver's view. That image is then processed to determine what percentage of the road in a specified radius is visible, and what's blocked by the vehicle's A-pillars, hood, and side-view mirrors. The result is an aerial view of where the driver's vision is obstructed—the blind zone—as well as a percentage of the surrounding area that's visible. Previously, this task required either access to engineering drawings or a specially prepared area in which to take measurements. Researchers can also use lasers for this, but, according to the IIHS, that method doesn't capture zones blocked by side-view mirrors or the wide bases of a vehicle's A-pillars. For the study, researchers with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Volpe Center used the IIHS method to examine every generation of some popular vehicles sold between 1997 and 2023. The models chosen were the Chevrolet Suburban, the Ford F-150, the Honda Accord, the Honda CR-V, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the Toyota Camry. The analysis measured how much of a 10-meter radius is visible to a driver; this distance was chosen because that's approximately how much space a driver needs to react and stop when traveling at 10 mph. The study also measured visibility between 10 and 20 meters from the vehicle. The biggest model-specific difference was observed with the Honda CR-V. In a 1997 model, the researchers measured 68 percent visibility, while the 2022 came in at just 28 percent. In a 2000 Suburban, the study measured 56 percent visible area within the 10-meter radius, but in a 2023 model it was down to 28 percent. The study concluded that higher hoods on newer versions of both models had the biggest impact on outward visibility. The F-150 started out with low visibility (43% for a 1997 model) and also declined (36% for the 2015 version). The two sedans in the study saw the least regression: A 2003 Accord was measured at 65 percent visibility, with the 2023 close behind at 60 percent, and the Camry went from 61 percent for the 2007 model to 57 percent for a 2023. Results for visibility between 10 and 20 meters were mixed, with some improving and others decreasing over subsequent generations. The study also notes that, during the same time period, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on U.S. roads increased dramatically—37 and 42 percent, respectively. While this is not conclusive evidence across the industry, the results from these representative vehicles suggest an overall decline in outward frontal visibility. The study also notes that, during the same time period, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on U.S. roads increased dramatically—37 and 42 percent, respectively. There's likely at least some causation with that correlation, even when you consider the addition of features such as automated emergency braking that are meant to intervene and prevent such collisions. Anecdotally, it's pretty clear that it has gotten harder to see out of new vehicles over the years. We're now at a point where technology like digital rearview cameras is augmenting—or, in the case of the rear-window-less Polestar 4, replacing—what a driver can see from the helm. This, along with features such as blind-spot monitoring, seems to have emboldened designers to further shrink the glass on a vehicle and worry less about what parts of the body obstruct the outward view. While we welcome this new measurement technique developed by the IIHS, it's interesting to note that some of the group's own ratings may also play into this reduction in forward view. Enlarging A-pillars, along with increased use of high-strength steel, is one way automakers improve a vehicle's crash performance, especially in rollover testing. Those changes, of course, have the negative downstream effect of obstructing a driver's vision. The Volpe Center researchers conclude that this new measurement method shows promise, and they believe the trend of worsening outward visibility warrants further study. David Gluckman Contributing Editor Ever since David was a wee Car and Driver intern, he has kept a spreadsheet listing all the vehicles he's driven and tested. David really likes spreadsheets. He can parallel-park a school bus and once drove a Lincoln Town Car 63 mph in reverse. After taking a break from journalism to work on autonomous vehicles, he's back writing for this and other automotive publications. When David's not searching for the perfect used car, you can find him sampling the latest in gimmicky, limited-edition foodstuffs.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
These Are The 3 Safest Cars In The U.S. In 2025
The 2018 Toyota Camry sedan is one of the safest, most reliable cars on the market. (Photo credit ... More should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Whether you're choosing a car for a first-time owner or a veteran motorist, buying the right vehicle can be a challenge. And by the 'right' car, we mean a safe and reliable car that does not break the bank. To be able to recommend such a prize collection of safe vehicles that are budget-friendly, the highly regarded Consumer Reports (CR) has once again tied up with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to find the safest and most reliable vehicles in the land. Camry, Forester and Explorer rank as the safest Out of some 260 models on the market today, Consumer Reports says that the following three vehicles are not only the safest and most reliable on sale now, but they offer enough model years to be budget-friendly. For sedans, the safest is the Toyota Camry built from 2018. For small SUVs, the top pick is the Subaru Forester from 2019. For the mid-sized SUVs it's the Ford Explorer from 2020. The Subaru Forester also ranks in the top 3. (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) As a bonus, CR tells us that the highest rated electric vehicle is the Tesla Model Y taking into consideration factors such as speed and ease of charging and range, areas in which the Y excels. Consumer Reports evaluates cars based on four key criteria—road test, reliability, owner satisfaction and safety. To make the list, a vehicle must receive a CR score of at least 3 out of 5 for tests that include acceleration, braking as well as routine and emergency handling and fuel economy. CR also evaluate usability, fit and finish, noise, ride, and safety systems. Ford's Explorer also ranks highly. (Photo by Samuel Corum/) Top rated vehicles must also receive a score of at least 2 out of 5 for their controls and displays— meaning that CR excluded vehicles fitted with the most confusing displays and controls which can be a distraction for drivers. Another critical factor for CR, owner satisfaction is based on whether a CR member would definitely get the same car if they had a chance to do it over again, effectively measuring whether a car lived up to its owner's expectations. In addition, all of the vehicles on the list have electronic stability control (ESC) at standard equipment, a key safety feature in avoiding traffic accidents. Each of these top rated vehicles also boast a high 'G' for Good rating in five different IIHS crash tests including small overlap front test, moderate overlap front test, updated side test and pedestrian front crash prevention test. Vehicles with curb weights of under 2750 lbs do not appear on the list as they are considered too small to provide sufficient crash protection, especially when impacting with larger vehicles. Readers may also realize that full-size SUVs and pickups are not on the list as well as sports cars which are considered by CR to invite excessive risk.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Toyota, VW, And GM Slam The Feds Over Outdated Safety Rules
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a federal agency tasked with maintaining and enforcing vehicle safety standards in the United States. This is a critical function to ensure the safest possible levels of transportation for commuters, so when a group of the industry's largest automakers accuses the NHTSA of outdated regulations that are a barrier to progress, it's worrying. This is exactly what's been communicated by a major trade group representing brands like Toyota, Volkswagen, GM, and Hyundai. A statement from Alliance for Automotive, a trade group representing these major automakers, is a scathing assessment of the NHTSA. "Its fractured relationship with the industry, decades-old safety regulations, and lack of a clear strategic roadmap for emerging technologies are stifling innovation and threatening U.S. global leadership," said the trade group about the NHTSA, as per Reuters. John Bozella, CEO of Innovation, listed dozens of NHTSA regulations that should be updated, repealed, or revised. He specifically pointed to the NHTSA's stance on automatic emergency braking and the red tape around autonomous vehicles. "Unfortunately, federal inaction is holding us back. Despite years of dialogue, there is still no comprehensive federal framework for AVs," Bozzella said, also calling for NHTSA to ease fuel economy requirements starting in 2027, saying they are "misaligned with consumer demand and current technology adoption rates." Almost 40,000 people died on American roads in 2024, which remains much higher than pre-COVID levels. Therefore, anything getting in the way of road safety standards is an issue. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an industry-funded group that also encourages the building of safer cars. Its tests are considered by many to be more comprehensive than those of the NHTSA, as cars are assessed in more crash scenarios and crash-avoidance technologies are also given a score. "NHTSA is failing to meet the moment. In recent years, it has approached its job with a lack of urgency, using flawed methodologies that underestimate the safety benefits of obviously beneficial interventions," said IIHS President David Harkey, adding that the NHTSA "requires stronger leadership, a sense of urgency, and a greater willingness to act." Related: IIHS and senators urge NHTSA to take action on automated driver assists As an example of the NHTSA's slow rate of modernization, the IIHS has called for motorcycles to require anti-lock brakes since 2013 as crash rates are 22% lower for such motorcycles. Despite this, it's still not a requirement that has been enforced by the NHTSA. A few years back, the latest headlight technology also hadn't been approved for use in the United States, due to outdated local regulations. Considering the rapid advances being made in safety technologies each year, a significant overhaul of the NHTSA's procedures is surely due soon. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
