Pedestrians in blind spot on front car windshield

[Indigo Blue]

I almost didn’t stop for a pedestrian yesterday. It was raining hard. I approached the crosswalk and didn’t see anyone crossing, so I slowly inched forward. She came into view as I began to go, and she had stopped suddenly and was mouthing a lot of words at me. I realized she had been standing in perfect alignment with the wide side panel on the side of my front window. I couldn’t see her. At all. This same thing happened once in a roundabout. Sometimes I think those panel things are a bit too wide. I felt so bad. 

[Kassia]

Wow, that's scary!  Glad you finally saw her!  

[prairiewindmomma]

I was in a reverse position as pedestrian in a similar situation yesterday. In my case, the driver was in a minivan looking down at apple maps or something on the dash.

Edited March 2 by prairiewindmomma

[Katy]

I used to drive a Prius and it had a huge front blind spot on either side. I didn’t drive it for long because it was so awful. 

[Spryte]

So glad you saw her! Thank goodness you were only inching forward. And now you know about the side panels.

Way back when I was in HS, the crossing guard was hit by a student and badly injured. My understanding was that the student hadn’t scraped enough of the windshield, and frost/snow was covering the side of the windshield. Sort of like your wide side panels, maybe. Scary stuff.

[Terabith]

Yeah, when we test drove cars (10 years ago), sooo many of them had huge areas that were blind spots for me.  I really wanted a Prius but we wound up with a Camry because it just wasn’t safe for me to drive the Prius.  

[scbusf]

The same thing happened to me last year. It scared me so much!!!!

[fraidycat]

Blind spots are one of the first things I look at in car shopping/test drive situation. Sometimes I don't even drive, I just sit in the driver's seat, then nope out. They are getting ridiculous b/c of side curtain airbags current design, but I don't think the added "safety" is worth the added risk in most of them.

[Miss Tick]

We bought a new car last summer and it has alarms (beeping) for that kind of situation. It has alerted me more than once when trying to back out of parking spaces where my field of vision was limited. I wasn't excited about the technology before that.

[catz]

That is so scary and I hate when that happens.  I am kind of short and have had a blind spot in every vehicle I have ever driven.  I tell my young adults who attend(ed) college in busy cities to make sure cars see you before crossing and I do the same.  

[Miss Tick]

12 minutes ago, catz said:

That is so scary and I hate when that happens.  I am kind of short and have had a blind spot in every vehicle I have ever driven.  I tell my young adults who attend(ed) college in busy cities to make sure cars see you before crossing and I do the same.  

I follow this advice too, but it can be tricky with all the window tinting. Some drivers clearly do not realize how tinted their windows are!

[Indigo Blue]

My son had an old Volvo sedan as his first car. I loved that car so much. You could see everything. I would love to have a similar car now. 

[Miss Tick]

1 minute ago, Indigo Blue said:

My son had an old Volvo sedan as his first car. I loved that car so much. You could see everything. I would love to have a similar car now. 

I wonder if, ironically, increased passenger safety has meant increased blind spots and decreased pedestrian safety. These older cars with spindly roof supports would have great sightlines, but be bad in a roll over.  I think you would be fine, IB, you don't strike me as someone likely to be involved in a roll over.

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, Terabith said:

Yeah, when we test drove cars (10 years ago), sooo many of them had huge areas that were blind spots for me.  I really wanted a Prius but we wound up with a Camry because it just wasn’t safe for me to drive the Prius.  

Same. I was already hesitant of a Prius because nearly every single one I see is bashed in or has scrapes along the sides, so I figured they have terrible sight lines. Even sitting in one in the parking lot confirmed it. I'm extra careful around them because I figure they can't see me, whether I'm walking or driving (or heaven forbid on a bike).

 

[MEmama]

10 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

My son had an old Volvo sedan as his first car. I loved that car so much. You could see everything. I would love to have a similar car now. 

Yep, my '98 Subaru was bombproof. I loved that car--visibility was *awesome* and she was built to be the boss of weather and bad roads. I actually cried when I had to let her go. 
 

I still see those gorgeous old Volvos around here now and again--mmm, I can just smell the fake leather baking in the sun, lol. I sure wish they'd make them like that again (safety improvements yeah yeah), those were incredible cars.

[Indigo Blue]

21 minutes ago, MEmama said:

those were incredible cars.

Yes they were! They are still pretty awesome, but I don’t know how they rate for visibility these days. 

[MEmama]

35 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

Yes they were! They are still pretty awesome, but I don’t know how they rate for visibility these days. 

Idk, the windows/widshields always seemed similar to my '98 Subaru and that had fantastic visibility. New cars have smaller windows so we have to rely more on technology to help us know what's around us, but those old cars--especially in those two brands--were known for safety even back in the day.

I like my newer Subaru but it doesn't compare. I much preferred my old style (except the seat heaters, I do enjoy having seat heaters lol)

[Terabith]

My first car was a 1974 orange Volvo (which was ancient when I got it in 1992).  It was pretty awesome, and honestly it felt like the safest car I’ve ever driven.  It literally drove through a garage and didn’t get a scratch on it.  
 

My mom:  Pull forward 

Me:  If I pull forward, I am going to hit the garage. I am not yet a good enough driver to creep forward. 
My mom:  You have plenty of room. 
Me:  No, I really truly don’t.  I will hit the garage.  
My mom: Just trust me.  
 

I hit the garage, and my mom learned a valuable lesson about both trusting my assessment of my skills and also that deciding to teach your kid to drive a week before you close on the house is a bad idea. 

[EKS]

7 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

I almost didn’t stop for a pedestrian yesterday. It was raining hard. I approached the crosswalk and didn’t see anyone crossing, so I slowly inched forward. She came into view as I began to go, and she had stopped suddenly and was mouthing a lot of words at me. I realized she had been standing in perfect alignment with the wide side panel on the side of my front window. I couldn’t see her. At all. This same thing happened once in a roundabout. Sometimes I think those panel things are a bit too wide. I felt so bad. 

Do not feel bad.  You're doing the best you can.  Frankly, pedestrians need to get a clue that they are the ones who will be the losers in any altercation with a car.  Therefore, they shouldn't be stepping into traffic before being absolutely sure drivers have seen them and stopped their cars.

Why, yes, I did grow up in Los Angeles.

[Kalmia]

My MIL had an old Subaru Forester (new at the time, maybe 1990s) that was like the Pope-mobile. It was like driving surrounded by big windows. Such good visibility. My New Subaru Outback has tinted rear passenger windows and I hate them, makes it much harder to merge. Now I am curious and I will compare our Honda CRV front blind spots to our Subaru's tomorrow when it is light.

My college daughter crosses a 4 lane "stroad" to get from her dorm to campus and back again several times a day. She's almost been hit twice crossing with the pedestrian light. Once the she looked the guy in the eye and he just kept coming--not a blind spot issue. She signed up for housing next year that is not across the road from the campus.

 

[EKS]

47 minutes ago, Kalmia said:

She's almost been hit twice crossing with the pedestrian light. Once the she looked the guy in the eye and he just kept coming--not a blind spot issue.

This is why you wait for them to actually stop.  Again, I grew up in LA where this has been an issue for decades.  Being right doesn't help you when you're dead.

[frogger]

5 hours ago, Miss Tick said:

I wonder if, ironically, increased passenger safety has meant increased blind spots and decreased pedestrian safety. These older cars with spindly roof supports would have great sightlines, but be bad in a roll over.  I think you would be fine, IB, you don't strike me as someone likely to be involved in a roll over.

Yes. There really needs to be regulations on this. The idea that people have to drive blindly down the road is crazy. It also affects pulling out into traffic. And those cameras and safety gear do not work in winter driving conditions as they get covered in snow and ice. 

 

Not related to quoted material:

I tend to stop and then roll forward slowly for 6 inches as the blind spot will slowly change and I also lean forward and then back to see around it. The person who says that seeing around their vehicle is not a drivers responsability shouldn't have a license period. 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

5 hours ago, EKS said:

Do not feel bad.  You're doing the best you can.  Frankly, pedestrians need to get a clue that they are the ones who will be the losers in any altercation with a car.  Therefore, they shouldn't be stepping into traffic before being absolutely sure drivers have seen them and stopped their cars.

Why, yes, I did grow up in Los Angeles.

 I was already halfway across the road yesterday when the minivan yesterday barreled around a corner and headed straight at me. I was well aware I was going to "lose" if it hit me, but I had taken all of the care that I could when I set off of the curb---the intersection was entirely empty and no vehicle was in sight.

 

[crazyforlatin]

9 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

My son had an old Volvo sedan as his first car. I loved that car so much. You could see everything. I would love to have a similar car now. 

My parents had a blue Volvo, the distinctive vintage ones, and I miss the visibility of it.

[Ausmumof3]

It’s so stressful 

I nearly collided during a lane change recently, I did a quick blind spot check but either missed them or they were going faster than the traffic flow or pulled out from somewhere. 

[MEmama]

11 hours ago, EKS said:

Frankly, pedestrians need to get a clue that they are the ones who will be the losers in any altercation with a car. 

Alternatively, drivers need to get a clue that roads are multi use and that pedestrians have rights too. A driver who hits a pedestrian/cyclist also "loses"-- can you imagine living with that guilt?!? That's why we are all shaken up when it *almost* happens, because of the severity of the risk.
 

[EKS]

42 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Alternatively, drivers need to get a clue that roads are multi use and that pedestrians have rights too. A driver who hits a pedestrian/cyclist also "loses"-- can you imagine living with that guilt?!? That's why we are all shaken up when it *almost* happens, because of the severity of the risk.

This is why we all need to work together.  There are a lot of pedestrians out there who seem to think that its everyone else's responsibility to keep them safe.  Or perhaps that's only how it is locally.  Here we have pedestrians who literally walk into traffic while looking in the opposite direction.  Or they walk on rural roads at night with dark clothing and expect you to see them.  With traffic.  

Anyway, my point is that people are always admonishing drivers about this stuff but pedestrians need to do their part too.

[frogger]

4 hours ago, EKS said:

This is why we all need to work together.  There are a lot of pedestrians out there who seem to think that its everyone else's responsibility to keep them safe.  Or perhaps that's only how it is locally.  Here we have pedestrians who literally walk into traffic while looking in the opposite direction.  Or they walk on rural roads at night with dark clothing and expect you to see them.  With traffic.  

Anyway, my point is that people are always admonishing drivers about this stuff but pedestrians need to do their part too.

I taught my children that you just assume drivers are trying to hit you and considering the number of drivers that try to play chicken with my bike commuting husband because he shouldn't exist in their mind, I can only assume that it is true.

 

So yes, I tell people that they must take care but I absolutely believe that the jump to pedestrian blaming is flat out wrong. That drivers are the ones operating a dangerous weapon and should be held accountable for its misuse. 

In OPs case, it was not a misuse. She did not hit the person because she was looking when she started to move. It surprised her but it ended well because she was paying attention. This is often not the case but that does not mean it is automatically the pedistrians fault. 

[Elizabeth86]

I’ve had this happen too. Terrifying.

[Resilient]

On 3/2/2024 at 9:35 AM, Indigo Blue said:

I almost didn’t stop for a pedestrian yesterday. It was raining hard. I approached the crosswalk and didn’t see anyone crossing, so I slowly inched forward. She came into view as I began to go, and she had stopped suddenly and was mouthing a lot of words at me. I realized she had been standing in perfect alignment with the wide side panel on the side of my front window. I couldn’t see her. At all. This same thing happened once in a roundabout. Sometimes I think those panel things are a bit too wide. I felt so bad. 

BT, DT (well, dh who was not used to my car).  It's horrifying.