sorry to keep coming back on you here.. but some blogger has about as much credit (if not less) than any poster on this page.
large pillars house the airbags in many cases, hence them getting larger (plus structural integrity)... and to complain of visability but ignore the large a, b and c (and sometimes d) pillars is picking and choosing what visibility matters to you and basing importance on them only... what about other peoples demands? are they less important?
the higher beltlines (i think that seems to be your main issue) are partially for style, and partially, for safety. if drivers are well trained and able to look ahead and see the big picture (and use that spatial capacity i spoke of earlier) the size of windows is really not that important. people might feel more boxed in, but do you really need that bottom two inches of window?... what are you going to see? how close to the line you are? if you really need to look at that, you need to take some drivers training. (i mean "you" as in anyone)... and i don't think many can argue that metal, with impact beams and such inside them are much better in an accident than glass... so more = better.
the only thing dangerous on the roads are the drivers.. cars are safer than they have ever been. anyone who has issues with cars that are available today need to realize the only way they are unsafe is if they are used improperly and/or by untrained drivers.