I keep seeing ads for cars with “Blind Spot warnings” as a feature. Could cars be engineered to not have a blind spot at all?
I’m going to answer the question in the thread title which is different than your last question.
Blind spots are frequently much worse in modern cars than previous generations. I believe it is a combination of styling and safety features.
I can’t answer your question directly, but I can perhaps add some assistance to the problem.
I don’t have much of a blind spot. Yes there is one, but it is pretty small
Swing your side mirrors way out…so that they are reflecting way out in the lane beside you…not down the side of your car. If you can see your car in the side mirror, you are not utilizing all of the mirror.
This way, you can see the car behind you in the rear view mirror; when it moves to your side it becomes visible in your side mirror, then as it leaves your side mirror you can see it out your side window.
It doesn’t completely mitigate the blind spot, but its pretty close. I suggest you try it to prove to yourself it is more effective than what is typically done.
It is the one thing I learned from Car Talk
I generally agree with Sigene, that will mitigate the problem. But there’s always something–like a small car or motorcycle very close to your left rear bumper that you might miss.
In my car (I drive a Prius), styling is definitely an issue. The small, aerodynamic shape means there’s not a lot of rear window to look out of, and the sharply raked windshield puts the pylons on either side in just the perfect spot to obscure my vision left and right at four-way stops.
I test-drove a Mazda 3 with blind-spot detection and liked the feature, though I didn’t buy the car.
Also, my wife used to own a Cadillac STS. Enormous car with the tiniest side mirrors I’ve ever seen. There was no good way to adjust them, you had to turn your head when changing lanes to be sure.
The ADAC magazine had an article a few years back about how the styling in modern cars - broader beams between front and rear doors for example - lead to much more blind spots. When they talked to the car producers, the answer was more or less “We are not required to reduce blind spots, so if marketing tells us that this looks cooler than the old look, that’s how we build”.
Aside from that, some may also be increased safety aspects: stronger support so the car doesn’t smash flat easily - a light version of a roll cage, basically.
This is strengthend by the problems the fire brigade has when using the shears to cut cars open after wrecks: there are no so many improved parts where it’s difficult to get through even with normal shears that they need bigger shears.
The ADAC at least (don’t know about your AA equivalent) offers for as many models as they can find a simple printout downloadable showing red and green where it’s easy to cut and where it’s hard to cut. The idea is that the car owner prints these out and puts them behind the sun visor, so the fire brigade can look before they cut in case of accident. (The fire brigade having to carry around a whole folder and trying to identify which model when it’s smashed into a mess would take time.)
Renting small cars in recent years is an “Oh my gosh, I can barely see out of this thing!” experience. Tiny rear windows. Really hard to orient the corners of the cars due to odd sloping. (Remember, these are rentals. Don’t have them long enough to figure stuff out.) And on and on.
Really scary driving these things.
I set my mirror to see the side of the car, which is the only way it is possible to have a reference point to be able to locate objects in mirror, in relation the location of the car. Then I stick a 97c fish eye onto a corner of the mirror, which widens my view. The fisheye (not standard equipment nor option – you have to buy it at WalMrt and install it yourself) has successfully enabled me to avoid any blind-spot mishaps in 40 years of driving.
You don’t need full detail of what is behind your corners – just a way to know there is something there.
The most direct answer is based on logic. Cars still have blind spots, because car designers aren’t working to get rid of blind spots.
A larger answer is, that doing away with ALL blind spots is probably not possible, as long as cars are made from opaque materials.
Something similar: an add-on additional convex mirror, mounted above the regular mirror.
Also, agree; the regular mirror should reveal a tiny slice of your own car’s side/rear corner, for context.
And, yeah: my car ('05 Focus) has very wide rear roof supports. Much wider than they need to be, and they cut off a lot of vision. One of the worst features of what is otherwise a pretty good car. I guess it looks good in the showroom.
Yes, and it isn’t even difficult. Aspherical wing mirrors (permitted in Europe for the driver’s side) can essentially eliminate ‘blind spots’ in most vehicles as do aftermarket adhesive mirrors. You can actually adjust most wing mirrors to more or less eliminated the driver’s blind spot if you don’t just default to lining them up for a straight rear view. Backup/rear view cameras and driver assistance sensors can alert drivers as to hazards in their 'blind spots, and good vehicle design (e.g. avoiding ginormous C-pillars) can minimize direct visual obstructions.
Stranger
This was my first thought from the OP. Lower the tail on this sucker and it’s perfect: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/0/05/TheHomer.png/revision/latest?cb=20090908145331
I would say SOME cars have gotten worse, but overall pillars have gotten smaller from 70s and 80s era.
Also backup cameras are becoming standard, particularly with larger vehicles, so there is less incentive to improve the rearview.
Aren’t you blind? You’ve said you need a cane to get around, but you drive? WTF?
If you* really* want to experience what blind spots are, try driving any non-convertible Camaro built from 2010 through the present.
He said he doesn’t have a blind spot. Instead he’s got a blind everything.
I do this as a matter of course. Doesn’t everyone?
mmm
As several have mentioned, the trend in current crossover SUVs actually creates blind spots. The wide, bulbous rear end combined with a fairly small trapezoidal rear window and sweeping rear quarter sheet metal make huge blind spots. My wife likes this “wide dute” look. Our Sorento is somewhat in this category, heck you can’t even back up by looking out the back, the closest ground you can see is probably 40 feet back.
I drove a Chevy HHR and you can’t make a safe lane change even if you do look out over your shoulder.
Just one more thing I like about my first generation Scion xB, absolutely amazing visibility in all direction.
Dennis
Nope. Like I mentioned upthread, my work vehicles had no side “look through”. I had to rely entirely on mirrors/blind spot mirrors.
I had a 2010 Camaro as a rental for a few days, when my old car was in the shop. Boy, howdy, you aren’t kidding.
Partially mitigated by new cars having backup cameras. Shortly to be mandatory, or mandatory already (I’m finding conflicting cites). The first time I got a rental car with one, I said “My next new car HAS one of these”. I now have a small SUV (Honda HRV), which has decent enough visibility given that body style. It also has a camera on the right hand mirror which comes on when you turn on the right turn signal, or press a button on the end of the turn signal stalk. I’m finding that to be a very nice feature for double checking the mirror before making a lane change.