MILWAUKEE — Last year in Milwaukee County there were 32 deaths and 86 injuries in vehicle crashes with pedestrians. State data shows that's more deaths than the year before. Automakers are rolling out safety technology to help avoid these types of crashes and protect passengers and pedestrians alike.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the group that crashes vehicles to test their safety, also tests the latest active safety technology to help drivers avoid crashes altogether.
David Aylor, Vice President for Active Safety with IIHS says, “There are lots of vehicles with automatic emergency braking. They use forward-looking cameras and radar to detect obstacles in front of them and they've been around now for 10 or 15 years. As the systems have become more advanced they are able to pick up on other obstacles in the roads, not just vehicles, and one of those is pedestrians.”
As the technology advances, more and more vehicles can see not only what is in front of them, but also between parked cars, looking for a potential pedestrian that may dart out. At Schlossman’s Subaru City in Milwaukee, salesman Fiz Hidri introduced us to the “EyeSight” system, standard on most new Subarus.
Hidri says, “not only can it see people, but it can try and avoid the accident.” He says the system will warn you with an audible alert of an object or person, brake for you, and even steer away from the obstruction if the coast is clear in the lane next to your vehicle.
At the very least, these systems can help reduce the severity of the crash. IIHS data shows pedestrian detection systems can reduce all crashes with pedestrians by 27% and lower injury crashes by 30%.
Because the technology is helping avoid crashes, thereby reducing insurance claims, many insurance companies are giving discounts to drivers with vehicles equipped with it.
“These systems are reducing crashes which means they could potentially lower premiums,” says Aylor.
IIHS tests did show that the systems did not perform as well in low-light situations, such as driving at night.
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