Blind Spots Are Getting Deadlier, Study Warns

Over the past 25 years, forward visibility in some of America’s top-selling vehicles has dropped dramatically by as much as 58% in certain SUVs, according to a new analysis conducted in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center. The culprit? Thicker A-pillars, taller hoods, and bigger mirrors, all the things that make today’s vehicles look powerful and safe, can hide a pedestrian or cyclist right in front of your bumper.

This isn’t just a design quirk, as it may contribute to a deadly trend. Between 1997 and 2023, pedestrian deaths in the U.S. increased by 37%. Bicyclist fatalities rose 42%. While no specific cause can explain the spike, researchers believe it’s time to take visibility seriously.

“This across-the-board decrease in visibility is concerning,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “We need to investigate whether this is a broader trend that may have contributed to the recent spike in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities.”

What makes this study different is how the visibility was measured. Previously, analyzing blind zones required cumbersome setups involving lasers, traffic cones, or detailed engineering diagrams. However, IIHS has developed a new, portable system using a 360-degree camera rig and computational software that simulates what drivers of different heights can see from the driver’s seat. The result is a “blind zone map” that clearly shows the areas around a vehicle blocked from view and calculates the percentage of visibility within a 10-meter radius.

That 10-meter figure isn’t arbitrary. It’s the average stopping distance for a vehicle traveling at 10 mph, think parking lots, crosswalks, residential streets. In other words, it’s the space where blind spots most often become deadly.

The Volpe Center used the new technique to examine how six household-name vehicles changed over the decades: the Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Camry. The biggest drop in visibility came from the Honda CR-V. In 1997, a driver could see 68% of the forward area. In 2022, that number had plunged to just 28%. The Suburban fared no better, dropping from 56% in 2000 to the same 28% by 2023.

The Ford F-150 started low, with just 43% visibility in 1997, and dropped even further to 36% by 2015. By contrast, sedans fared slightly better. The Honda Accord only dropped 5% over 20 years, and the Toyota Camry saw a mild dip from 61% to 57%.

In simple terms, the study found that drivers of newer vehicles can’t see as much of the road directly in front of them as they could 25 years ago. Car parts like hoods, mirrors, and the pillars around the windshield have gotten bigger, creating blind zones that block a driver’s view.

What’s behind the decline? Designers are packing cars with thicker pillars for rollover protection, elevating hoods to make them look tougher, and enlarging mirrors to reduce drag and improve aerodynamics. But the tradeoff is serious: the area directly in front of the car is increasingly hidden from view.

Becky Mueller, a senior IIHS research engineer and co-author of the study, noted, “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’s team is now applying the new technique to over 150 vehicle models. The goal: understand how different blind zone sizes affect pedestrian crash rates and insurance losses.

That’s critical because while we’ve seen major strides in vehicle safety tech like emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring, most of those systems are built to assist, not replace, the driver’s eyes. Additionally, when drivers can’t see what’s right in front of them, all the sensors in the world may not make a difference.

There is no federal requirement for automakers to measure or disclose blind zones. So, even as regulators push for safer vehicles, a key piece of the visibility puzzle remains untested and unchecked.

Until now, if future research confirms these early results, it may finally force automakers and regulators to rethink how we define safety. What drivers can’t see might be the most dangerous thing on the road.