The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) will conduct a test program for automatic emergency systems on vehicles to detect and brake for pedestrians.
IIHS has shared with auto manufacturers the protocol engineers will use in preparation for this year’s release of the first IIHS ratings of the feature. The test for the automatic emergency brake for pedestrians is the fourth crash-avoidance assessment in the institute's array of safety tests, along with ratings of front crash prevention, rear crash prevention and headlights.
The institute’s engineers have been performing research tests with different cars and SUVs. The first to be rated is a group of 11 small SUVs 2018-19 models.
The tests simulate these potential collisions:
- An adult pedestrian crosses a street from the right side of the vehicle and perpendicular to its path, with an impact location -- in cases when auto brake doesn't intervene -- midway between the vehicle center line and right edge of the vehicle's front end;
- A child pedestrian runs across a street from behind two vehicles parked on the right side of the vehicle's path, with a potential impact location on its front end at the centerline;
- An adult pedestrian in the lane near the road's edge facing away from traffic, midway between the vehicle's centerline and right side.
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