A system and method designed to improve sensor visibility for a host vehicle operating in an autonomous driving mode when one or more forward-looking sensors are being occluded or obstructed. According to an exemplary embodiment, when a forward-looking object detection sensor is being obstructed by a target vehicle located closely ahead of the host vehicle, the method determines if lateral movement by the host vehicle within its own lane is appropriate to improve sensor visibility around the target vehicle. If lateral movement is deemed appropriate, the method generates lateral movement commands that dictate the direction and distance of the lateral movement by the host vehicle. This may enable the object detection sensors to at least partially see around the obstructing target vehicle and improve the preview distance of the sensors.