Models that get the best visibility score

Judith Edwards • Published 8 Mar 2010 14:51

All-round visibility is generally worse than it was around 15 years ago. Car roof and door pillars have been strengthened and have grown from barely noticeable strips to thick chunks of metal.

Vehicle blind spots account for around 1% of all accidents. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) calculates that eliminating them would prevent around 25 fatal accidents each year.

In Which? Car's research, the Smart For Two Coupé came out top for driver's vision with a visibility score of 64.8%, aided by its lack of a B pillar (usually found between a car's front and rear doors).

The Fiat 500 (58.7%) was second and the Citroën C3 Picasso (58.2%) was third.

The raised driving position in the Ford Galaxy MPV (57.4%) brings benefits for the driver's line of sight, as it does to a lesser extent in the VW Golf Plus (56.2%).

At the bottom of the list, convertibles such as the Porsche Boxster (31.4%), BMW Z4 (38.7%) and Lexus IS 250C (39.4%) rate poorly, though obviously their view improves considerably once the roof is down.

And there are issues with the futuristic Honda Civic (37.6%), which has a split rear screen that does rear visibility no favours. Which? Car editor, Richard Headland, said: "It's vital to make sure a car protects its occupants in a crash, but accident research - and common sense - suggest that crashes are more likely if visibility is reduced.

"This is of particular concern for more vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

"Some models that score well for visibility in our tests also achieve good crash-test results, showing it is perfectly possible to design safe cars with good visibility.

"Which? Car is calling on manufacturers to do all they can to make life easier for drivers and we have drawn up a list of recommendations to make conditions safer." Every car that passes through the Which? Test Lab is assessed in a specially-designed visibility rig using lasers, digital cameras and sophisticated computer software to rate visibility from the driver's eye position.

By fixing a camera at a typical driver's head height using a fixture in the front seat, Which? technicians can pan a full 360 degrees around the car's interior, logging how much of the view is clear window and how much is obstructive - including the pillars, roof and headrests. Individual ratings for different aspects of visibility, such as the view out of the mirrors and the swept area of the windscreen wipers, go towards the overall visibility score. This research was carried out throughout last year.

Which? Car recommends:

- Cars should have a better field of vision in the A pillar (front roof pillar) area and C pillar (rear-most pillar) area.

- There should be improvement in side impact protection.

- Electronic 'junction assistants' should be introduced.

- Head curtain airbags should be installed as standard.

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