IIHS Study Reveals Significant Way Some 1990s Cars Were Safer

Some SUVs’ forward blind zones have gotten especially large in recent years, study finds  

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center has found that the forward blind zones of six top-selling passenger vehicles have grown significantly over the past 25 years, coinciding with increased pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities. A new, IIHS-developed comparison measurement technique used for determining a driver’s direct area of vision around the vehicle facilitated the study’s findings, as first reported by Carscoops.

Researchers highlighted that throughout vehicle redesign cycles from 1997 to 2023, forward visibility within a 10-meter radius declined up to 58% for three popular SUVs: the Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Chevrolet Suburban. The most considerable reduction came from the CR-V, where the model’s hood, mirrors, and A-pillars all contributed to increased obstruction. Drivers of a 1997 CR-V could see 68% of an area 10 meters ahead of the vehicle, but this figure declined exponentially to 28% for the 2022 version. Regarding the Suburban, drivers of the 2000 model year could see 56% of the area in front, but this declined to 28% for the 2023 production year. A higher hood and larger side mirrors were the two factors most significantly contributing to visibility reductions, and numbers for the Jeep Grand Cherokee weren’t cited.

1997 Honda CR-V

Honda

Researchers also tested the Ford F-150, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry. A 1997 F-150 was reported as providing 43% visibility of a forward area within a 10-meter radius before dropping to 36% by the 2015 production year. Visibility declines in the two tested passenger cars weren’t as noticeable. The Camry had 61% visibility for its 2007 model year before falling to 57% in 2023, and the Accord fared slightly better with 65% visibility for 2003 and 60% for 2023. IIHS President David Harkey said, “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. This study also illustrates that the new method developed by IIHS gives researchers a straightforward, repeatable way to assess driver visibility.”

How the IIHS’s new forward blind zone measurement technique differs from past methods

The IIHS’s updated method for measuring driver visibility uses computational software and a portable camera rig in the driver’s seat at varied heights to illustrate drivers of different sizes. This camera captures a 360-degree image of the vehicle’s surrounding field and the nearest points on the ground that a driver can see, providing a visibility percentage. The previous, less-efficient and more time-consuming method of determining driver visibility didn’t foster opportunities for large-scale studies since researchers had to compare different models’ blind zones with engineering drawings or by positioning each vehicle in an open area marked with grid lines or traffic cones. Another technique using lasers was more efficient, but couldn’t capture blind zones from the side mirrors and the widening base of the A-pillars.

1997 Ford F-150 Series

Ford

Final thoughts 

Volpe Center researchers focused on studying the visibility of vehicles from the 1997 to 2023 model years, as pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities have increased by 37% and 42%, respectively, during this period, according to the IIHS. Researchers also chose to study a 10-meter radius of its test vehicles because that’s the average stopping distance at 10 mph. IIHS Senior Research Engineer Becky Mueller added that the collected data is especially relevant since SUVs have gotten increasingly popular in recent years.