WTHR
6 HN mentions · mentioned in 6 months, 2021–2026
6:08 · 49K views · Apr 25, 2019
A local TV news investigation showing that many SUVs and trucks have a large blind zone directly in front, hiding children from the driver. It includes a demonstration lining kids up in front of a vehicle.
HN cites it in threads about large vehicles and pedestrian safety as a vivid demonstration of front blind zones.
6 comments from Hacker News
Hard to find reliable data, but could only find (shared) data for 2022 for large SUVs - whatabout doesn't quite cut it imo, feel free to look into midsize SUVs but imo the really large ones are more problematic: Ford Expedetion: 81,988 in 2021, 71,648 in 2022 Mercedes GLS: 24,482 in 2021, 12,395 in 2022 Chevy Tahoe: 106,030 2021, 109,032 2022 Chevy Suburban: 48,214 2021, 52,459 2022 Dodge Durango: 65,935 2021, 58,627 2022 GMC Yukon: 84,242 2021, 80,731 2022 Nissan Armada: 22,814 2021, 17,551 2022 Toyota Sequoia: 8,070 2021, 7,066 2022 (but about 25,000 after refresh in 2023) * Ford F-150 [2] *: 726,004 2021, 683,633 in 2022. The Large SUVs are all linked here: [LINK] I'm sure the mix is different and skews a lot more Japanese for mid-size (which are probably also dangerous), but these large SUVs and trucks with huge hoods and no rear visibility are getting quite problematic [1]. The front blind zones are pretty ridiculous, to the point that people advocate for front cameras: this video (with timestamp). [1] [LINK] [2] [LINK]
> A small child would be impossible to see even some meters away. A US local News did a segment on that recently, they lined up sitting children in front of a truck, I think only the 7th or 8th child in the row was visible and even then barely. You basically can’t see anything shorter than the hood for 10 feet in front of you, and that’s assuming you look at the road from over the driving wheel not between the dash and wheel arch. Edit: turns out “recently” is optimistic (or more likely this is a recurring segment), found this from 3 years back: this video Tho it’s not the segment I was thinking of.
> 'far more practical' to force Volkswagen and other companies making compact cars to produce larger vehicles While being far more dangerous to children due to the low frontal visibility of American style trucks: this video The "huge car to overcompensate for a tiny brain" fad is growing in Europe and it's a travesty.
>An entire class of schoolchildren could be standing right in front of your vehicle and you wouldn't even notice. This sounds like hyperbole but is actually not hyperbole - this video I'm a short woman and drive a sedan.
How deadly American trucks are to children is something I recently learnt: American cars have dangerous front blind zones that it took 13 kids in a line for an SUV driver to spot them: this video ) Also: [LINK]