I thought I'd get used to it, but I have a narrow but busy local road that curves to the left, making a smooth 90 degree turn. Cars are parked on the right side of the road and there is just enough room for 2 cars to pass, kids and pedestrians all around. The Fit's A pillar seems to perfectly block my view, forcing me to lean forward in order to look left through the curve. I thought I'd get used to it, but being forced to lean forward to improve my sight line seems, in the unlikely event of a crash, not very safe.

The Fit is a nice car, but in this use case, it fails me.

With a 90 degree turn at a stop sign I can look out the side window or the small window just aft of the A pillar, so no problem in this case.

Does anyone else have such an issue?

 

I've complained about this since day 1. It's a horrible design.

 

No issue. I seem to be magical.

 

Same here..just take an extra couple of seconds to move yer head around to view everything, ain't a big deal. My wife calls me "Mr Safety," yet, when I drive all I hear is "YOU'RE SCARING ME!!!!" ...heh

 

I don't like the fat A-pillars. I've had to learn to bob my head every time I make a turn to make sure that the pillar isn't hiding a pedestrian.

Of course, my other cars have A pillars narrower than the distance between my eyes. They also wouldn't hold up in a rollover.

 

Pretty much all the new cars have the same problem or a piece of it,, the side curtain airbags in the a-pillar make it fat. The silly small window with the extra vertical bar does not help either..

 

Lean forward and turn your head!

 

I agree the A pillar is thick.
But you'll notice it's similar on nearly all vehicles like The Fit.

That's why we get the cool....cut out window inserts.

I speculate the thickness of the pillar is to add strength to the frame...read...protect me in a crash. Therefore, I'm more than willing to be aware and lean forward when I have to.

 

Yea, I have this exact same issue with the A pillars. Those little triangle windows under the pillar don't help at all when at speed. It seems like they're only useful for parking.

I think it's actually more to do with its position as opposed to its thickness. I don't have issues with other cars with thick A pillars (stronger pillars and added space for the side air bags). The A pillars on the fit are just positioned too far forward. However, I'm pretty sure that they did this to improve aerodynamics. This kind of design seems common with hybrids like the prius for example.

I've learned to move my head around the pillar when turning. It's ok. Not super annoying.

 

I vociferously defended the Fit's visibility in a previous thread, but then I almost missed a semi. It"s not "horrible" , but it is something to be cognizant of.

 

Visibility in my Fit is fabulous compared to my previous car, a Toyota Matrix. Had some close calls in the Matrix. The Fit seems much safer in that respect.

 

While I agree that the A pillar is thick and thus results in having to be aware and sometimes...gasp...move my head....

I also agree that overall The Fit has great visibility. All vehicles have their weaknesses..but The Fit is overall very good in the outward visibility department.

I've driven much worse.

 

I'd say that the Fit has reasonable visibility, but not great. The A-pillars have already been mentioned, but the view to the right and behind is also limited by the C-pillar, the upswept sill, and the small side window.

I'm comparing mostly to an '04 xB, which has terrific visibility, both around the A-pillars and to the right rear.

My other car is a VW bus which cannot be beat for visibility, but other safety features...not so great!

 

yah, the a-pillar is huge on dese cars. i dont like it either.

it can hide a whole garbage truck at the right angle while dey approach u.

 

You're not going to find a solution here, but I have plenty of sympathy. The fuel-saving window angles of today lead to terrible A-pillar visibility.

Best advice is to buy something more upright. The car with the best visibility I know is the Subaru Forester. Or, you know, accept it as a shortcoming. My girlfriend isn't perfect, but now she's my wife and I'm quite happy with her.

 

It's the same with the GE. I'm always having to be extra careful with peds and cars turning left. It's scary.

 

It bugged me too at first, I started a thread on this several months ago. I had a few close calls but eventually I learned to adjust and now it's no big deal.

 

I made the comment once that I didn't see a bus coming when it was behind the a-pillar of our Fit.

 

Now that this thread pointed it out...I've been paying more attention.
That A Pillar is pretty bad.

Is it my imagination or are the "cut out" windows smaller on this generation than the previous?

I don't remember the blind spot being as bad on my 2010, seems like those forward windows were bigger. But I might just be imagining it.

 

As someone stated, all the side pillars are thicker on new cars than they were in the past. It's impact protection.

Now, watchdogs like Consumer Reports are urging automakers to improve sightlines. We will see how they juxtapose these two seemingly contradictory goals.