*wrote this like an hour ago and had to leave the computer...*
yeah, i touched on that as well in my verbal diarrhea rocket. agree on that. a pedestrian is less likely to die, so not the priority.
no-san... just think about this.. the guy obviously knew they were there (or why take the picture) and actually TOOK THE PICTURE!!! he is a part of the issues... what he did is illegal and while visually demonstrates his point, sure doesn't back it up when you actually look deeper.
basically, i fight your main stance because i want a car that looks good and is safe for me. the shape of the pillar is more for the occupant safety, shape/fuel economy, looks, THEN the lest obstruction possible. i'm fine with that level of priority.
like child rearing, i prepare the child for the world, not the world for the child... we should prepare the driver for the car, not the car for the driver. don't gloss over peoples inability to perform certain tasks by "correcting" something to perpetuate their shortcoming. if it is that bad of a design, sales should be affected and the car won't be an issue. likely the design is only marginally worse than others, so it will continue.
meh is all i can say really!