There's so much a driver cannot see through the rear and side-view mirror of an SUV or other large-sized vehicle. (off-topic)

Date:   8/15/2005 6:44:22 PM ( 19 y ago)

A friend sent me a link to this article today via email, and it's worth sharing. It's about the apparently HUGE blind zone that a driver can't see from the rear and side-view mirrors of an SUV. I do own an SUV and am happy to know more about this, as it's important information. Thanks for reading.

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San Diego Union-Tribune
(excerpt from article by John Wilkens)
August 14, 2005

A dad tousles his toddler's hair, picks up car keys from the kitchen
counter and heads out the door toward the SUV parked in the driveway.
Time for a quick trip to the market.

He climbs in, starts the engine, looks down to change the station on
the radio. He doesn't notice that his son has followed him, and when
he looks in the mirrors, he can't see the boy behind the SUV. He puts
it in reverse.

"We call it the Bye-Bye Syndrome," said Janette Fennell. "The kids
don't know cars are dangerous. They just want to give you another
kiss."

For the past three years, Fennell has been tracking a disturbing
trend in America: More young kids are being backed over and killed,
usually by relatives, often in their own driveways.

At least 101 died last year, up from 91 in 2003 and 58 in 2002,
Fennell said. (She uses "at least" because no government agency
tabulates back-overs.) On average, two kids die every week, according
to her records, and another 50 are injured.

"There is absolutely nothing on Earth worse than the death of a
child," Fennell said, "except when you are a parent who has run over
and killed your own child. The grief is overwhelming."

Activists like Fennell, who runs a nonprofit organization, "Kids and
Cars," from her home near Kansas City, trace the problem in part to
America's on-going love affair with big vehicles.

SUVs, pickups, minivans – they all have large "blind zones" behind
them, said Sally Greenberg, senior product-safety counsel for
Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine. "With so
many of these vehicles, you can't see what's behind you," she said.
"They're tragedies waiting to happen."

How large are the blind zones?

In one televised demonstration earlier this year, "Good Morning
America" had a correspondent sit in the driver's seat of a big SUV,
glance over his shoulder and in the mirrors. Nothing, as far as he
could tell, was behind him.

Then he got out and walked to the back of the vehicle, and 24 nursery
schoolers were standing there.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050814-9999-1c14backm.html


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