It’s often joked that “they don’t make things like they used to,” and when it comes to vehicles, that cliché might just hold water—especially regarding visibility. Forget conspiracy theories about built-in obsolescence or intentionally shortened gadget lifespans; this time, it’s about something more tangible and measurable. If you’ve ever sat behind the wheel of a modern car and felt like you just can’t see as well as you could in your old ride, you’re not imagining things. A new scientific study proves you’re absolutely right.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center, has unveiled a new method to assess how much a driver can see out the front and sides of a car. Using a special portable camera setup, researchers captured the driver’s field of vision, then used that data to calculate what percentage of the area directly in front of the vehicle—within a 10-meter radius—is actually visible. This new technique highlights just how much of the road is being obstructed by modern design elements like thicker A-pillars, higher hoods, and bulky side mirrors.
This isn’t just theory—it’s backed by data spanning 25 years and multiple generations of some of America’s most popular vehicles: the Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord and CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Camry. The findings? Frontal visibility has significantly decreased across nearly all models.
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Take the Honda CR-V, for example: drivers could see 68% of the area within 10 meters in the 1997 model. Fast forward to 2022, and that visibility plummeted to just 28%. The Chevrolet Suburban saw a similar drop, from 56% in 2000 to 28% in the 2023 version. The Ford F-150, which started off at 43% in 1997, dipped to 36% by 2015.
The sedans fared slightly better. The 2003 Honda Accord offered 65% visibility, and the 2023 version still retained a respectable 60%. The Toyota Camry dropped from 61% in 2007 to 57% in 2023. These declines, though smaller, still reflect a troubling trend.
Why does this matter? Because limited visibility isn’t just a nuisance—it’s a safety issue. Between 1997 and 2023, pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in the U.S. rose sharply—by 37% and 42% respectively. While the study doesn’t draw a direct cause-and-effect line, it strongly suggests a correlation worth investigating.
Ironically, while cars have gained more technology to aid visibility—think backup cameras, blind-spot monitors, and 360-degree sensors—these same tools may be enabling designers to rely less on glass and more on metal, reducing natural sightlines. Some vehicles, like the Polestar 4, have even eliminated rear windows entirely in favor of digital screens.
It’s also worth noting that the very safety standards intended to protect occupants may be contributing to this decline in visibility. Thicker A-pillars and more structural reinforcement help in rollover and crash tests, but they also block a driver’s view. The IIHS itself has encouraged some of these changes through its safety ratings, inadvertently pushing automakers toward designs that obscure outward vision.
The conclusion from the Volpe Center is clear: this new visibility-measuring technique offers valuable insight, and the trend it reveals—diminishing forward visibility—deserves further scrutiny. As vehicle designs evolve, it’s crucial that outward visibility remains a core part of the safety conversation—not just for those inside the car, but for everyone sharing the road.
