Practically Classics Forum

here a warning for classic car owners there is a design flaw in modern cars to do with pillars and been seeing it alot more recently my theory it is do with shallow pillar angles and thickest of pillar preventing them from seeing other motorists when they are on top of them , i was approaching a T junction at 30-40mph and the driver didnt even see me till he was in my path and less than 20 yards away.

Hope you're OK.

I find rear view mirrors a blind spot in modern cars too.

that really is sad. i hope everyone is ok..

If I had survived an accident like that, I'm sure I would now be in a cell and the other driver in the morgue (Well one of us would have been in the morgue) . I am very sorry this has happened and that a car, that has been looked after and kept all these years, has been trashed by the actions of a turd driving a turd.

I remain unconvinced that these clowns can’t see. They do the same thing if you are riding a bike (i.e. One with pedals). Because most of them can’t ride a bike at much over 10mph, they assume everyone is the same and when they see the bike approach, they see themselves on it. Similarly because most people only own old cars as old bangers, they assume all old cars are bangers, that can barely go (Like theirs). In each case they assume they can “Beat you” because you are only crawling along. When it all goes wrong, I suspect these clowns feel it sound less negligent to say “I didn’t see you” than “I saw you and pulled out because I misjudged your speed”.

Having said that, there was an old farmer around here, who would deliberately pull out if he thought cars were going too fast, in order to slow them down . He was the original mobile chicane; I used to overtake him on the bike. However his assumption that driving slowly made him safe was incorrect, as he was not a good driver.

I might add that if cars have "Blind" spots, the drivers of those cars should be aware of them. When my Traveller had wing mirrors, they were useless, so I had to turn my head and have a good look behind. Now I have fitted door mirrors (They are MGB/MG Midget ones) and they are a lot better. The moral is if you drive, you have eyes; use them

hillmanimpman wrote:a design flaw in modern cars to do with pillars and been seeing it alot
more recently my theory it is do with shallow pillar angles and thickest of
pillar preventing them from seeing other motorists when they are on top
of them ,

I bought a mk2 Chrysler Neon both me and both parents said the exact
same thing, the pillars were too thick and created more blind spots.
I got rid of it within 4 months, as nobody liked driving it, they kept nicking
the keys for my mk1 Neon instead.

I got into a friends new fiesta, I thought it was a focus at first as it was as
big as an old focus and the pillars were so big and obtrusive, I told them I
wouldn't want a lift in it as you lose about 20+% of your field of view, giving
a very high rate of having an accident.

He didn't believe me, and reversed into the gate post doing a 3 point turn.
He didn't say a word, I said sarcastically "Whats the matter didn't you see it!"

I've had 1970's Dodge (USA) trucks for years, and thought about getting one of the more modern ones, until I drove one a mate of mine had imported back from Southampton to Essex. The pillar is about twice the width as the one in mine, plus the doorframe sat next to it, and for some reason they black out around 2" along the edge of the screen too. You have to look around it by moving your head from side to side to see what's hiding behind the pillar, and what you find lurking there is frightening.
Still, it put me off, and saved me a few quid.

My 1963 998cc Hillman IMP (love of my life.... ) was collected - head on - by a 'tank slapping' MkIV Cortina TAXI, around 1986.

I got the full force of his momentum [I saw..I stopped..I was 1/2 way across the path!!] and the poor old girl was shortened by 2foot on the drivers side. I had a full tank of petrol (over my FEET......) but had installed Inertia Reel SBs.... so I didn't have a Steeringwheel shaped dint in my nose.

I got a settlement from the Insurance, bought it back & guys from the IMPClub broke her for bits.....

alfaSleep

MidgetSaab wrote:Hope you're OK.

I find rear view mirrors a blind spot in modern cars too.

got a broken/fatigued jaw and bruised right leg but otherwise i am fine just abit nervous about driving again now after the crash

Hope the insurers sort you out with some comp' and enough to get a replacement car.

I had a Seat Leon on hire for a few weeks about 4 years back. The thickness of the widscreen/door pillars were compounded by the shallow angle so much that I had to take EXTREME care when turning left.

There was a short period within the turn when it was impossible to see whether or not someone would step out into the road I was turning into - very worrying.

I found that no matter how much I moved my head around, I was unable to get round the problem and I'm a big believer in moving my head around as I drive so that I get to see what is happening around corners/bends as early as possible.

hillmanimpman wrote:.....bruised right leg but otherwise i am fine just abit nervous about driving again now after the crash

Lucky it was just bruised really. There's a guy on the Dolomite Club forum who, by amazing coincidence, also crashed a Pageant Blue 1500 recently only, in that poor guy's case, he suffered from a broken leg and not a merely bruised one.
Ain't that a remarkable thing now?

Still, the main thing is that you're both still alive and able to compare notes after your nasty collisions.