A NEW poll from the AA suggests that nearly half of UK drivers battle dangerous blind spots – but a little-known feature might be the fix.
Data from the breakdown specialists implies millions of Brits struggle with visibility in their motors, with worrying safety implications if the latest crash stats are anything to go by.
The organisation’s survey of 12,372 AA members, weighted to reflect the general UK population, found that 44% of respondents felt that their car has a blind spot, with more than a third claiming to have had a crash or near miss as a result.
If the sample was replicated in the population as a whole, this would apply to more than 15 million motorists, per DVLA statistics.
Some of the most common obstructions include thicker door pillars or smaller windows, both of which have been recent trends in car manufacturing as stricter safety rules require better crumple zones in case of an impact.
More than 20% of those surveyed blamed each of the side pillars and the windscreen pillars for restricting their view when in the driving seat.
And, according to the latest Government crash statistics, this could increasingly be posing an issue to safety.
The data, from 2022, recorded 929 collisions resulting in injuries in which blind spots were identified as a contributing factor.
Tragically, 17 of these proved to be fatal crashes, putting the figures at a five-year high.
The numbers even showed blind spots to be an issue at low speeds, with 10% of related smashes occurring in car parks.
Tim Ranking, the managing director of AA Accident Assist, said: “‘Over the past five years, blind spots restricting the view of drivers have been a factor in 63 road deaths and more than 1,100 serious injuries.
“Clearly, most drivers know where their view outside their vehicle is restricted but the threat of them failing to spot another road user remains considerable.
“Distraction, information overload in busy driving environments and just a ‘bad day’ may lead to a driver not being as diligent as usual in checking where they know they are partially blind.”
Thankfully, car manufacturers are responding to the issue with the development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Powered by similar tech to self-driving cars, these use functions like automatic emergency brakes and adaptive cruise control to try and prevent collisions.
The array of highly-tuned sensors employed by ADAS can cover areas out of view of the human eye and many feature specific blind spot assist cameras which allow the driver to see areas that might otherwise be obscured.
Others involve blind spot monitoring, which keeps tabs on a roughly 10-foot zone around the rear of the car and can automatically trigger the emergency brake if it detects the chance of a crash.
And it certainly seems to work, with a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the US finding a 14% lower crash rate in cars with blind spot assist than the equivalent models without.
It also reported a 23% drop in lane-change crashes resulting in injuries.
The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents UK car makers, has been contacted for comment.
