Pedestrian AEB Struggles with High-Visibility Clothing

A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reveals that pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems may struggle to detect individuals wearing high-visibility clothing, potentially undermining their intended safety benefits. Conducted using three 2023 vehicle models, the research highlights discrepancies in AEB performance, especially under different lighting conditions and clothing types.

Key Highlights:

Vehicles Tested: Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5, and Subaru Forester.
Clothing Types: Black clothing, white clothing, retroreflective jackets, and reflective strips on limbs.
Lighting Conditions: No roadway lighting, 10 lux, and 20 lux illumination.
Findings:
- The Subaru Forester outperformed the others, avoiding collisions in nearly all scenarios.
- The Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5 demonstrated inconsistent results, with limited or no slowing in many trials.
- Retroreflective clothing, often used by roadway workers, did not improve detection and sometimes confused AEB systems.

Study Insights

IIHS researchers tested pedestrian AEB systems by simulating a pedestrian crossing a roadway under various conditions. While prior IIHS research showed a 27% reduction in pedestrian crash rates with AEB systems, these benefits diminished on dark roads, where most fatal pedestrian crashes occur.

During the trials:

The Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5 collided with the pedestrian dummy in most scenarios, including when the dummy wore reflective strips.
The Subaru Forester demonstrated superior performance, stopping in all but one trial where reflective strips were used.

David Kidd, senior research scientist at IIHS, explained, “The placement and motion of reflective strips on the joints and limbs of pants and jackets allows drivers to quickly recognize the pattern of movement as a person. Unfortunately, the moving strips didn’t have the same effect for the pedestrian AEB systems we tested and probably confounded their sensors.”

Concerns and Recommendations

The study raises concerns about the reliability of AEB systems in detecting pedestrians wearing high-visibility clothing, particularly workers and emergency personnel who rely on these garments for safety. David Harkey, IIHS President, emphasized, “It’s untenable that the clothes that pedestrians, cyclists, and roadway workers wear to be safe may make them harder for crash avoidance technology to recognize.”

Further research is recommended to enhance AEB systems’ ability to detect various types of high-visibility clothing, ensuring compatibility with safety gear commonly used by roadway workers.

Conclusion

The findings underscore the need for improved pedestrian detection technologies, particularly for nighttime scenarios and diverse clothing types. Addressing these gaps is critical to advancing the effectiveness of pedestrian crash prevention systems.

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