Two times of late I have stopped at give way sign, waiting to turn right. Each time a vehicle waiting in r/h turn lane of main road was totally obstructed from view by nearside 'A' pillar (which has a little speaker built on) plus wing mirror. The 'obstruction' is quite a large area and has resulted in two lots of "the finger" being given (and rightly so as I pulled out before they completed their r/h turn). Never caused an accident in 50 years driving but these instances are a worry. Not old age, I prefer to think of design fault - any other Focus drivers had a problem?
pico42,
Apr 3, 12:34pm
Move your head so as to see past any pillar blind spots.
pandai,
Apr 3, 12:41pm
My car has large pillars and they have never been a problem for me. I move my head to see around them.
whqqsh,
Apr 3, 12:45pm
nah, its quite common now, latest Commodores at work have the same issue, wide A pillar to house airbags & very low angle to match the windscreen so IMO they sit right in your 45 deg vision where you need to see cars coming out of sidestreets & yes I do move my head by end up looking like a boxer ducking & weaving just to see what's coming. Another example of form over function
skull,
Apr 3, 1:23pm
More like safety rating over function, it is to do with air bags and creating the safety cell to enable a high ANCAP rating. Something we will all need to learn to live with now that cars are being constructed to protect us from ourselves.
towelynz,
Apr 3, 1:40pm
Did you not test drive before buying the Focus?
socram,
Apr 3, 2:37pm
Similar problem for tall drivers on several modern cars when they stick the Wof label alongside the A pillar at eye level. I refuse now to let them put the label there - and I don't care what the regulations say!
tibby1947,
Apr 3, 3:19pm
Yes, drove over 100k's but did not experience the 'T' junction problem. Junctions I refer to are when turning right onto a dual carriageway which has a short 'turn right 3rd lane' for vehicles on the d/c turning right. At the junction I sit, looking both ways, very busy road. The previously empty right turn 3rd lane to my left has become occupied by one car whilst I was looking right. This car not visible at all. However as whqqsh does I now 'bob and weave' to make sure nothing is there. Accepted a safety issue for roof strength but in doing this another safety issue created.
tamarillo,
Apr 3, 6:30pm
Tis relatively common now, cars have huge A pillars for safety reasons and in some designs they plain get in the way. Used focus rentals and didn't think them any worse than most. New commodore was much worse.
jcwholesale,
Apr 3, 7:06pm
Obviously no one remembers the older cars when mirrors were all but painted on and you actually had to turn your head to look, I know, actually turn or move your head, we did it believe it or not. Shit load more blind spots a few years ago, but of course we have proximity sensors, reversing camera's,and cars that park themselves now. Perish the thought we sure do anything ourselves, you know like move your head, you might sprain a neck muscle. Tsk tsk
franc123,
Apr 3, 7:12pm
There is no regulation that says it HAS to be in the top RH corner of the screen. As for general visibility, well you people will insist on buying modern cars, roof crush strength and provision for all these airbags is the reason for this, all to protect you from the crash you could have avoided by being able to see properly in the first place.
socram,
Apr 3, 7:34pm
It also applies to my 1970 GT and my 1998 sports, and the two previous 1970 GT's. Poor visibility is not confined to modern cars!
skull,
Apr 3, 7:42pm
No good showing us a picture of the Picasso your dad no longer has, show us a photo of your dad who pulls out into traffic so we can avoid him.
whqqsh,
Mar 30, 5:15am
great logic. I know we'll fit a safety item to help you survive accidents which actually obstructs your view so you have a greater chance of having those accidents
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.