Blind eye to visibility

Miriam Schulman, 5 ft tall, says some designs restrict her visibility, including her husband’s Saab she dented as its high rear shelf blocked her view when she was backing up.

But design experts say the new trend enhances the sense of safety. ‘‘People feel more protected in a vehicle with smaller windows,’’ says Stewart Reed, chairman, transportation design, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California.

In contrast, ’80s-era designs opened up the passenger compartment, putting drivers in a glass bubble. ‘‘In the ’80s, belt-lines were getting lower and cabin higher,’’ Reed said. ‘It was better visibility then.’’

But if visibility plays a role in safety, it’s difficult to extract from crash statistics. Take, for example, the sleek-backed Murano. It has below-average collision rates, according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data. Why one vehicle crashes more involves a complex suite of factors—the drivers, the stability of a vehicle and visibility.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has never examined the role vehicle visibility plays in accidents, according to agency spokesman Rae Tyson. Indeed, the federal government has no regulations on window size. ‘‘There’s no regulation that windows even have to exist,’’ notes Richard Van Iderstine, former NHTSA executive.

Although small windshields and windows may seem to reduce visibility, that’s not always the case. In some vehicles with low-slung windows, the driver’s head position offers normal vision, Van Iderstine said. On the other hand, drivers well above or below average height could have a greater problem adapting to smaller windows.

Other issues associated with visibility—window tint, size of rearview mirrors and rear window visibility—are equally subject to design trends. Reed worries many advancements in reducing glare and other visual distractions from the driver’s field of view, are being lost.

A study by Consumer Reports found that rearward blind spot for some large SUVs and pickup trucks extended up to 50 ft, measured by when a 5-ft driver looking out the rear window could see a 28-inch traffic cone. To deal with the problem, some manufacturers offer rear-facing cameras or radar warning systems. Other systems signal potential collision during lane changes. The increasingly sharp sweep of windshields to improve aerodynamics has forced engineers to increase size of forward window pillars, creating larger blind spots.

(Los Angeles Times)