A lot of car manufacturers mention certain features in their advertising to convince potential buyers that a particular vehicle is a safe option. Yet they don’t tend to tell you about the features that could reduce your safety.
One feature that can both improve and reduce safety is the pillars that hold up the roof.
Pillars provide support but cause blind spots
Strong pillars can help keep you safe because they can better support the roof if your car rolls, reducing the chance the roof caves in and squashes you and your passengers. Yet rollovers are at the dramatic end of the scale and most collisions do not result in vehicles landing upside down.
The problem with stronger pillars is that they are bulkier. That is where the extra strength comes from. And that bulk can reduce visibility for the driver, inhibiting their ability to notice people and vehicles around them.
Think about the windows of a car. They wrap in an almost 360-degree shield of glass, allowing the driver to see in front, behind and to the sides. The view is not quite 360 degrees though because a few of those degrees are given over to the support pillars and the bigger those pillars are, the greater the driver’s blind spots will be.
While it is important to know a vehicle will protect you if you roll over, being able to see better may make those accidents less likely in the first place. Better visibility can also be crucial for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists who are easily lost in a driver’s blind spots.
Considering all the factors that might have contributed to a crash will be crucial if you are left injured after a collision.
