Thread: 'Hidden danger' of school run 4x4s

ACA did a story on this ages ago, they spoke to the NRMA about which cars were worst (the story was targeted at 4wd's of course, regardless of whether they are the worst). The NRMA testing officer said that the then VY/VZ model commodores where the worst for rear view. They let him say that and then went back to this stupid test where by they put a teddy bear behind a 4wd or people mover backing out of a parking space and then watching it get run over. They did it as the person was backing out, and place it right under the bumper. I can safely say i wouldnt be able to see a toddler behind our laser if they moved directly behind the car as i was backing out. All they did was further shift the blame from the parents who should be watching their kids like a hawk, or better still carrying them or at least holding their hand in the carpark to prevent it from happening. Gotta love that biased reporting. Matt

Please correct me if I am wrong but the article said "Thousands of 4x4 drivers remain unaware of the dangers posed by the giant A-pillar blind spots their vehicles possess and they must adapt their driving habits to compensate for this." I always thought that the A piller was at the front, not the back.

Originally Posted by gruntfuttock

Please correct me if I am wrong but the article said "Thousands of 4x4 drivers remain unaware of the dangers posed by the giant A-pillar blind spots their vehicles possess and they must adapt their driving habits to compensate for this." I always thought that the A piller was at the front, not the back.

It is i just felt like bitching.

I dont really have a problem with the A-pillar in the disco, all you need to do is use your mirrors and fill in the blanks with a quick head check, not that hard really. I test drove and AU XR6 a couple of years ago and the blind spot generated by the A-pillar in that was shocking. Matt

so...according to their theory.....the bigger the vehicle the bigger the pillars and hence the blind spot.......

therefore........in a "b double" the blind spot would be enough to block out a suburb or two.....?


where my kids go to school......the front gate is right next to the loading dock for a supermarket......
plenty of trucks there......or is that ok as they are only rear wheel drive....?

In this theory if I drove my SIII around with the windscreen down, the roof and the windows unbolted therefore removing all pilars on the vehicle, would this make it safer?

Like your thinking Dobbo, out of curiosity having read this thread yesterday and presented it to some of the guys at work and taking some measurements from the training aid vehicles on the workshop floor I found out something interesting..

out of my D110 extreme (big red), a xe/xf falcon, a toyota land cruiser a commodore and some crap box nissan my defender has

1. the skinniest a pillars (hold the windshield)
2. the third skinniest b pillars (holds the rear doors)
3. the best rear vision from side mirrors
4. the worst rear vision from the internal mirror
5. the longest dead ground behind the vehicle
6. the narrowest dead ground behind the vehicle

None of the tests were very scientific to measure the pillars I had Beck (workmate) hold a tape measure up about 30 cms from the pillar then open it untill I could see it from the drivers seat then had her walk around the vehicle and drop cones when I lost site of her to mark out the side and rear blind spots.

What did surprise me was the small size of the wedge blind spot to the left and right of the vehicle from the mirrors. With the little fish eyes Ive got in there and my peripherial vision Its almost non existant unless you're under 4 feet tall and sitting on the side steps.

Interesting

Its a UK thing , at the moment they have a real big anti 4x4 thing over there. One of the big reasons for moving to Aus

At the moment in the UK the 4x4 gets blamed for everything from killing babies to burgaling your house. They are really trying to get them taken off the road. They have just put up the price of road tax for 4x4's and want to charge extra to go into london with one, compaiered to every other car