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Safety measure puts lives at risk  

The DfT is to launch an investigation to see if wider passenger compartment pillars in many new models are contributing to accidents by creating a bigger 'blind spot' for drivers.

Analysts have named this type of accident 'looked but did not see', or LBDNS. The DfT has commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to analyse data from accidents and construct computer simulations.

It believes the danger is especially acute at junctions, roundabouts and merging lanes on dual carriageways and motorways - because the blind spot may stop drivers seeing cyclists, motorcyclists and even other cars.

The concern is that in the approach to a typical junction the pillar will block the driver's view of another car for about a third of a second - about the time most drivers will spend on a glance to check there is nothing coming.

A DfT study carried out last year into 61,000 accidents across 13 UK police forces concluded that LBDNS was the third most common reason claimed for an accident - the top two were 'inattention' and 'failure to judge another driver's path or speed'.

A spokesman said: "The Department is currently undertaking research to test the hypothesis that modern car design can obscure the road and other road users to such an extent that it is an important contributory factor in accidents.

"This project will provide information on what drivers see in real-world accidents and how their field of vision may be affected by car design."

He added that the main concern was that the thickness of the 'A' pillars - essentially the forward roof supports - has been increasing and limiting drivers' field of vision as a result.

"There is some evidence to support this claim, but to date the effects of 'A' pillar obscuration have not been thoroughly investigated," he said.

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