Better pedestrian detection technology needed in autos: IIHS

The vast majority of passenger vehicle and pedestrian collisions occur when the driver is going straight, with no visual obstruction and the pedestrian is crossing traffic, reports the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS).
In its Status Report, the IIHS examined federal US crash data from 2005-2009 and found the vast majority of pedestrian crashes involved a single passenger vehicle, and most were frontal crashes.
“Ninety-five per cent of people struck by the front of a vehicle and more than three-quarters of those who died were crossing traffic as opposed to walking along the road,” the report says.
“Of the cases involving vehicles going straight without view obstruction, drivers hit the brakes in only 13% of both fatal and non-fatal impacts,” it continued.
“In other words, most drivers who hit pedestrians crossing the roadway apparently never react to what’s in front of them.”
The IIHS suggests that auto manufactures include pedestrian detection systems in the design of vehicles.
“The trick is developing technology that can accurately predict when someone is going to step into the path of a vehicle,” the report says.
David Zuby, the IIHS’s chief researcher, stressed the importance of getting this technology right.
“Too many false alarms could turn a warning system into an annoyance and make drivers reluctant to accept the new technology.”