Car reversing visibility ranked

Parents can't have eyes in the backs of their heads to protect toddlers - but new visibility ratings for reversing cars could help to lessen the odds of tragedy striking at home.

The country's largest motor insurer, State, yesterday published an index of reversing visibility for 204 vehicles tested for blind spots behind them.

This follows what accident prevention agency Safekids says have been at least six deaths of children hit by vehicles in driveways in the past eight months.

A laser pointed out of rear windows at a test cylinder representing the shoulder height of an average 2-year-old child found blind spots in the reversing visibility of all but one of the vehicles listed in the index.

Only the Lexus GS 430, with beeping sensors and a camera, allows its drivers to see everything happening behind the rear bumper.

For those who can't afford to pay $147,000 for a new Lexus, State has listed the more modest Holden Barina three-door hatchback among the five best-scoring vehicles.

That car has a relatively small 4.8sq m blind spot through the rear window, although it should not be confused with the five-door hatchback Barina, from which a child would be invisible to the driver in an 11.7sq m zone behind it.

The five lowest-scoring vehicles, including the Holden Commodore VX sedan and Land Rover Discovery four-wheel-drive, had blind zones of a yawning 27sq m.

State spokesman Shaun Hickey said he was perturbed at a demonstration in Auckland yesterday to find himself in the driver's seat of a Commodore and unable to see a child on a tricycle almost 17m behind.

"You can't see either through the rear-vision mirror or when you turn around to look out the window," he said.

For those wanting a relatively safe large family car, the Ford Falcon Fairmont Ghia sedan with backing sensors is the best performer of its category, but even that has a 9.6sq m blind zone.

Mr Hickey said even with a camera and sensors installed, there was often no substitute for driver awareness or for holding children close to ensure they were safe.

"We'd encourage people to think of driveways as a high-risk area where children need supervision," he said. "They should think of them as no different to a backyard swimming pool."

Safekids director Ann Weaver, whose organisation has a national reach as well as being the injury prevention arm of the Starship children's hospital in Auckland, said danger was magnified in driveways shared by several homes with little if any fencing.

"We advocate if possible that people fence off an area away from the driveway so children have somewhere safe to play," she said.

Accidents commonly occurred when a parent was leaving for work, and a toddler rushed behind a reversing car to say goodbye.

Best rating

Lexus GS 430 (with sensors and camera)
Mazda MX-5
BMW Z4
Renault Clio Sport 182
Holden Barina

Worst rating

Holden Commodore (sedan)
Toyota Prado
Honda Odyssey
Mercedes CLK500
Holden Crewman
Land Rover Discovery