Autoliv Suggests Autonomous Braking System Could Eliminate 40% of Pedestrian Fatalities

21 June 2009

Approximately 40% of the thousands of pedestrians that die every year and 25% of the severe pedestrian injuries could be avoided if cars had pedestrian detection systems with automatic braking, according to a paper presented by Autoliv Inc. at the international conference Enhanced Safety of Vehicle (ESV) in Stuttgart, Germany.

Autoliv is a leading global developer and manufacturer of automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers.

Approximately half of the fatally and one third of the severely injured pedestrians are visible to the driver prior to impact but the driver does not brake or only brakes marginally, according to German accident data (GIDAS). Consequently, a pedestrian detection system that would autonomously activate the vehicle brakes one second prior to predicted impact, would have the potential to reduce pedestrian fatalities and injuries.

Such a system would, according to the study, reduce the impact speed by 41% and completely eliminate 15% of pedestrian accidents. If these findings can be extended beyond German accident data, a potential reduction exists of almost 1,500 pedestrian fatalities out of the total 3,683 pedestrian fatalities during 2007 in the EU-14 countries according ERSO (European Road Safety Observatory).

Another contribution of an autonomous braking system is that the impact speed can also be reduced in those cases where the driver activates the brakes as the duration of the braking can be doubled to 1.4 seconds. Various restrictions will limit the effectiveness in real-life traffic, but the results highlight the large potential to reduce fatal and severe pedestrian injuries with an autonomous braking system.

The autonomous braking system consists of an extension of the brake assist system that would autonomously activate the vehicles brakes when a signal is provided by a sensor system. Such a sensor could be based on the infrared technology that Autoliv developed for the night vision system of the new BMW 7-series. The system gives the driver a warning to provide him or her approximately four seconds to react when the pedestrian is at risk of being hit or is entering the risk-zone. The new ESV-paper highlights the substantial benefits further development of this technology could bring.

We see a great potential in our infrared-recognition system not only for making driving at night safer and more comfortable but also as a key component in a future pedestrian protection system. With more applications the volumes will rise which will rend the current relatively expensive infrared technology more affordable, making the technology available for ever more vehicle buyers.

—Steve Fredin, Autoliv’s Vice President Engineering