Cars' Blind Spots Can Be Deadly

(CBS)  Most drivers know they have to check the blind spots behind and to the sides of their cars. But few realize that the area in front of them is just as dangerous.

The Early Show's consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen reported that at least 33 children were killed last year by drivers who could not see them because the kids were in the blind spot in front of the car. Those tragic mistakes are known as front-over accidents.

Koeppen told the heart-breaking story of Tiffany Quick, a 1-year-old who was run over by the family SUV last June. Eric Quick, her father, was behind the wheel.

"He was pulling the car into the garage like I had asked him to. He didn't see her," Tiffany's mother, Michele, told Koeppen.

It's a day that will haunt the little girl's father forever. "It is the most tragic and unforgettable image that you can imagine," Eric Quick said.

He had come outside to move his truck from the street into the driveway and had no idea that Tiffany had followed him. As he pulled forward, she was standing right in front of the SUV, hidden in his blind spot. He thought he had hit a bike or a toy — until he looked in the rearview mirror.

"Tiffany and I had a very special bond," Quick said. "She was my first little girl, and every time I came home from work, she would light up."

Most drivers don't realize how large the blind spot in front of their cars can be. But consumer watchdogs are aware of the problem.

David Champion, Consumer Reports' auto director, helped Koeppen put four family vehicles to the test: a sedan, a minivan, a pickup, and an SUV.

With Koeppen at the wheel, Champion measured her blind spots using a 3-year-old on a tricycle. He moved the child farther and farther from the front of the car until Koeppen could see her.

With the sedan, the blind spot was a two-foot area from the front of the vehicle. With the SUV, it was a frightening nine feet.

This means that if children had been standing within nine feet of the front of the car, the driver would not have seen them.

In one test, Champion clustered 10 small children in front of Koeppen's SUV. She could not see a single one of them.

New technology can reduce the blind spot. High-end models, like some Cadillacs, come with front parking sensors that warn you when there's an object ahead.

Automakers such as Nissan are developing future models with cameras that give drivers a 360-degree view around their car.

But Koeppen said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has no plans to mandate sensors or cameras on cars, because, NHTSA says, the sensors give drivers "a false sense of security."

The Quicks are calling for automakers to install sensors in all cars so that other families don't experience a tragedy like theirs. Eric Quick hopes that sharing his story will be the first step in spreading awareness of the problem.

"If I can keep one father from having to go through what I did, from having to live with the pain I have, then it's worth it," he said.