Those A Pillars - Dangerous!

[Scotty_Doesn't_Know]

You can setup mirrors in ANY car so that when you look out the front side windows you see cars, then the exterior mirrors should overlap slightly and pickup cars where you start losing them out the windows and then the interior rear view mirror will overlap slightly and pick up cars as you lose them out of your exterior rear view mirrors.

People who still have blind spots simply don't know how to setup their mirrors properly. You don't need to see back down the lane very far at all from the external rear view mirrors, that's what you should use the interior rear view mirror for...

 

[Wombat]

One simple answer for that Mongoose : "Form Over Function".

Every single car manufacturer today does things in a car, design-wise, which have no obvious purpose other than to look good...they could have been done just as easily and just as effectively another way, but stylists often win in todays style-driven world and engineers come a distant second with thier cold hard logic.
Everyone must have noticed it at some time in some newer car...you'll suddenly realise some annoying point about it and say to yourself "I wonder why the idiots did it like that?".
One example is ground scraping body kits for even some basic model cars which get grounded out on the first kerb you park near...aerodynamics don't have any effect on a car until it is well over 160km/hr, and the soft edged rounded bodies we see today are not, despite claims, for aerodynamic efficiency, they are to reduce wind noise in the all important NVH ratings. They have exactly diddly effect on your fuel economy, as anyone who has spoken to someone with an Ecotec in a boxy old EH or HR will be able to attest.
My pet hate in the two Commodores I've recently owned (VS and VX) is the ignition key location. There are a dozen ways of mounting it on the dash, lower on the column, etc, but no...they had to hide it away right up behind that nice fat airbag steering wheel where you have no hope of easily just reaching forward and slipping the key in the ignition. The number of people I have seen get in such a car, lean forwards to try and see around the wheel, and then fumble the key in, is amazing. I know things are profit driven, but there are some design ideas that just make good sense, and if they were done on all new cars, they would not add to the costs.

 

[jules]

guys, the A pillars are that size to provide rigidity (strength) in a high speed frontal impact. the pillars help support the dash/firewall from being pushed back and intruding into the passenger "survival space".

the bigger the pillars, the stronger they are.

it's a very good question - do they cause more crashes by restricting vision than they are worth?

 

[greenfoam]

I find the visiblity in both my mums AU and my dads VY ute to be really bad compared to a VN/P/R/S if the VE is worse than that I'd be stressed out driving it

 

[BuggaBear]

After 4 days driving my new Omega (nearly 400k's), I believe these A pillars are a REAL safety issue.
So bad in fact that I will be doing a safety audit on it for the company I work for (a top 20 ASX listed Aussie company)
Otherwise, in every other way the car is a real pleasure, but this danger cannot be ignored.
I hope, for Holden's sake it doesn't get out of hand, but in my case I am the first one in my company to have a VE delivered and therefore have the duty to bring this up as a safety issue.
I honestly don't know how or why Holden let it go out like this.
Weather its a strength issue or not, makes no difference, it's just plain dangerous.

 

[Fnomna]

I hope, for Holden's sake it doesn't get out of hand, but in my case I am the first one in my company to have a VE delivered and therefore have the duty to bring this up as a safety issue.
I honestly don't know how or why Holden let it go out like this.
Weather its a strength issue or not, makes no difference, it's just plain dangerous.

Do you really think Holden would spend $1bn on the car and sign off on the design if it didn't pass all ADRs ?? Of course not.
There are probably other cars out there with similar pillars. It just hasn't been in a volume-selling Aus car before. If you want the safety benefits of the pillar, buy the car. If you don't like the blind spot - don't buy the car. If you don't get a choice in buying it, understand that it meets ADRs and learn to drive the car with this in mind!

People have always said similar things about general visibility out of cars as modern cars have introduced higher belt lines and rears. We've all learnt to compensate for it.

 

[BuggaBear]

Do you really think Holden would spend $1bn on the car and sign off on the design if it didn't pass all ADRs ?? Of course not.
There are probably other cars out there with similar pillars. It just hasn't been in a volume-selling Aus car before. If you want the safety benefits of the pillar, buy the car. If you don't like the blind spot - don't buy the car. If you don't get a choice in buying it, understand that it meets ADRs and learn to drive the car with this in mind!

People have always said similar things about general visibility out of cars as modern cars have introduced higher belt lines and rears. We've all learnt to compensate for it.

Have you even driven one yet??
I have been driving cars of many sorts for nearly 40 years, predominately Australian, but also quite a few imported vehicles as well. I have personally owned over 60 cars to date.
I am stating a fact - this A pillar is huge, so huge it is dangerous (IMHO).
In all my driving I have never come across anything even remotely like this in anything before - car, truck, bus or anything else.
If you dont like my opinions, ignore them.

 

[drewins]

Yes Scotty I agree that you can use ALL of your mirrors to get every view but sometimes if you need to change lanes quickly and dont have time to look at both mirrors, you cant just rely on your side mirrors. In these situations I just quickly turn my head to the side mirror and just before I move I keep moving my head and take a glimpse over my right shoulder and then move.

 

[andrewmac]

Do you really think Holden would spend $1bn on the car and sign off on the design if it didn't pass all ADRs ?? Of course not.
There are probably other cars out there with similar pillars. It just hasn't been in a volume-selling Aus car before. If you want the safety benefits of the pillar, buy the car. If you don't like the blind spot - don't buy the car. If you don't get a choice in buying it, understand that it meets ADRs and learn to drive the car with this in mind!

People have always said similar things about general visibility out of cars as modern cars have introduced higher belt lines and rears. We've all learnt to compensate for it.

This isent really a matter of whether ppl "like" it or not its a matter of saftey.
Just because something meet ADR's doesnt mean that it is nessesarily right.
If ppl who have been driving these cars are generally concerned (and from several sources they are) then the problem should be adressed.
I would prefer ppl complain about it now then ignore it and not be aware of the danger.
Although ppl who dont like the A-pillar can choose not to drive the car what about the ppl who dont care, dont take notice or dont have experience enough to adapt, that is where the dange lies and that is the main thing that worries me.

 

[Evman]

I test drove 2 VE's, a Calias V and SS V, and to tell ya the truth I only really noticed the fat A pillars for a few seconds, and then just automatically adjusted to them I guess, because they weren't a problem. My first car was an XD Falcon, and when I upgraded to my VN, I thought both and A and C pillars in the VN were massive, but again only for a short time before I adjusted to them. The way I see it, is that if you can't adjust to a car (in general) within an hour of driving, you're just a bad driver. Otherwise how'd you go changing from driving a car to driving a bus, or truck? If it's really that much of a problem for ya, go buy a motorbike.