My theory: Imagine a very small woman in a very large car. She would hardly be able to see above the dashboard. Going up on a ramp would make her see absolutely nothing in front of the car. Only when the car is on level ground after having left the ramp, she will suddenly have seen the parked car in front of her, probably panicked and pushed the accellerator instead of the brake. Having a small wife myself, I have never understood why they keep making the dashboards higher in new cars, but I guess that it must be for the drivers and passengers safety. But solving one safety problem by raising the dashboards, will just create another safety problem, when smaller people are behind the wheel. Here in Bangkok, I have driven with several taxi drivers who barely had a view above the dashboard in their Toyota Altis.