High-visibility or reflective clothing may be invisible to automated crash prevention systems,
The study investigated how clothing and roadway lighting impacts the performance of the pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems. Previous research from IIHS shows that pedestrian AEB reduces the rate of pedestrian crashes of all severities by 26%, however
IIHS President David Harkey, said in a statement: "These results suggest that some automakers need to tweak their pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems. 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."
Auto manufacturers are working on the issue, according to the IIHS press release.
The study examined how clothing and roadway lighting impacts the performance of pedestrian AEB systems installed in three 2023 models, the Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester. Researchers used an adult-sized dummy in a black sweatshirt and pants, a reflective jacket with black pants, a black sweatshirt and pants with reflective strips on the limbs and joints and a white sweatshirt and pants. The tests were run at 25 mph with no lights, with 10 lux of illumination and with 20 lux.
The Honda CR-V did not slow in any of the trials regardless of the lighting when the dummy was dressed in the reflective jacket, according to the study results. The Mazda CX-5 slowed more when the dummy was in black and worse in the reflective jacket. The Subaru came to a complete stop in every trial except when the dummy was wearing reflective strips and the road was illuminated 10 lux, but it did still slow more than 80%.
David Kidd, a senior research scientist at IIHS and the study author, said in a statement:
"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."
The report is not clear on why the systems did not detect the reflective strips.
"This is a worrisome blind spot," Harkey said. "To make good on their potential, pedestrian detection systems have to work with the other commonly used safety measures."
