A-Pillars Show There’s No Free Lunch When It Comes to Safety
Vehicle manufacturers face many competing demands, so they must make compromises. Making one thing safer may make something else less safe. One example is A-pillars in vehicles. Product safety is often a complex issue, but this varies depending on what’s at issue and what makes the product unsafe.
If you’re in a vehicle accident, many factors may have led up to the crash. One of those things is a defective product, which could be a vehicle or a part of it. We thoroughly investigate our clients’ vehicle accidents to determine who’s responsible and how they might be held liable. If you’re injured in a car accident and want to learn more about your rights, call Satterley & Kelley, PLLC at 855-385-9532 today.
What Are A-Pillars? What Do They Do?
An A-pillar is the strip of metal at the end of the windshield to the left of the driver. It and the other pillars connect the roof to the rest of the vehicle. It must be narrow enough to allow the driver to see as much as possible, but strong enough to prevent the roof from collapsing if the car rolls over.
What’s the Problem With A-Pillars?
The wider it is, the bigger the blind spot to the driver’s left. It can make seeing pedestrians and other vehicles more difficult, especially at intersections or when the driver wants to make a left turn. This can cause a collision with a pedestrian, cyclist, or another vehicle.
Bloomberg reports that A-pillars have gotten wider over time, making this situation worse and increasing the risk of a collision. It may be a reason why cyclists and pedestrians are getting killed in vehicle collisions at record-setting levels.
Car companies in the past wanted A-pillars to be as slim and unobtrusive as possible. This gives a driver a better view of what’s going on and gives more leeway in making a sleeker, more attractive design.
But narrow pillars leave little to keep the roof in place if there is a violent accident that causes the car to roll over. If a vehicle roof collapses onto occupants, crippling or fatal injuries could easily occur.
Rollovers weren’t major concerns for federal vehicle safety regulators in the 1960s and ’70s, when the focus was on protection against frontal and side collisions. Most vehicles sold during this time were sedans, coupes, and station wagons with low centers of gravity. They were unlikely to flip over in an accident.
Starting in the 1980s, larger SUVs and pickups became big sellers. Their height, weight, and power made rollovers more likely and dangerous. Rollover crash fatalities surged 35% in the 1990s, sparking personal injury lawsuits and media coverage of the problem.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2005 proposed a higher minimum roof strength standard. It became a rule that vehicle manufacturers had to follow four years later. It requires roofs of new vehicles to be able to handle three times the vehicle’s unloaded weight, which was twice the prior standard.
Manufacturers had different options, including the following:
- Use of stronger steel
- More vertical A-pillars
- Bigger A-pillars
A-pillars have grown wider in the last 20 years, due to federal rules, the popularity of heavier SUVs and pickups, and the need to support more slanted and aerodynamic windshields. These bigger, stronger A-pillars may be doing their jobs as rollover deaths seem to be declining, but several other factors may be at play.
Protecting Vehicle Occupants While Putting Others at Risk
A wider pillar obscures a bigger section of the roadway. A 2022 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found that SUVs and pickups are more likely than smaller vehicles to hit pedestrians when making left turns. A-pillars were cited as a probable cause. A 2007 paper showed a possible connection between A-pillar thickness and lane change crashes.
The European Union limits how A-pillars obscure a driver’s vision, but there’s nothing similar on the horizon in the US. Changing safety rules requires a cost-benefit analysis. The NHTSA would have to conclude that shrinking A-pillars by a given amount would save a certain number of lives. Currently, there’s no research establishing that.
Speak To a Satterley & Kelley, PLLC Accident Lawyer Today
If you or a family member is injured as a pedestrian, cyclist, or motorist in an accident with a vehicle, we want to hear from you. We can help you recover the full and fair compensation you deserve. Let us be your boots on the ground and guide you through the process.
Call us at 855-385-9532, locally 502-589-5600, or contact us online to arrange a free initial consultation with a Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyer.