Accidents with Vehicles with Big Blind Zones

Many accidents occur because drivers fail to check their blind spots before making turns, changing lanes, backing up, or performing any number of similar maneuvers behind the wheel. In fact, vehicle blind zones cause many types of accidents that often result in very serious injuries, including death. According to Consumer Reports, blind zone accidents are responsible for at least 300 people dying each year from being backed over, most of whom include children and the elderly.

The fact that you were involved in an accident with a vehicle with a large blind zone may be an important factor in your case. It is very likely that the driver failed to see you and caused the accident by failing to account for the vehicle’s large blind zones.

Types of Vehicles with Large Blind Zones

A blind zone, or blind spot, is the area that a person is not able to see from the driver’s seat. Rather than creating smaller blind spots—and making vehicles safer—recent trends in vehicle design have actually caused blind zones to become larger. These days, large vehicles (namely SUVs and pickups) which have much bigger blind zones, compared to passenger cars, continue to be popular and have an ever increasing presence on the roads. These vehicles oftentimes have modern styling features, such as thick windshield and window pillars, high rear decks, and short rear glass, all of which create even more significant and dangerous blind zones.

Front-end Blind Zones

Some vehicles are so large, and the driver is positioned so high off the ground, that they also have large blind spots in the front. Front-end blind zones can cause problems in traffic situations such as roundabouts, intersections, and road crossings. Along with a vehicle’s width and height, front-end blind zones can be caused by the distance between the driver and the pillars on either side of the windshield, thickness of the pillars, angle of the windshield, and height of the driver in relation to the dashboard.

Protecting Motorists from Blind Zone Accidents

With the number of blind spot accidents that occur each year, it may come as a surprise that there is no federal standard for rear visibility. This may be a situation where the legal system can bring attention to a real problem with automotive safety. Injury claims arising from blind spot accidents can call attention to inherently dangerous vehicles, and hopefully make drivers more aware of blind zone hazards. This in turn could lead to lawmakers addressing the issue and requiring stricter standards in vehicle design to reduce blind spots and decreasing the number of accidents caused by blind spot problems.

Contact KWF if You Have Been Injured in a Blind Zone Accident

Negligently operating a vehicle with large blind zones is dangerous, and drivers who do so should be held accountable for injuries they cause. If you have been involved in a blind zone accident, please contact the Atlanta personal injury lawyers at Katz Personal Injury Lawyers at (404) 460-0101 to talk with an experienced member of our legal team.