Most new vehicles sold in 2018 (56%) had, as either a standard or optional feature, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) equipped with Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). However, current testing protocols implemented by safety organizations and programs, such as Euro NCAP, NCAP, and IIHS largely do not evaluate the performance of PAEB in dark conditions without streetlights. This is true despite data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) showing that more pedestrian fatalities occur in dark conditions without streetlights than in daylight conditions. Additionally, independent tests conducted by NHTSA and the American Automobile Association (AAA) reveal that, in every scenario considered, PAEB systems frequently fail to protect pedestrians in dark conditions.
Within this context, to encourage improvement in PAEB performance and increase nighttime
pedestrian safety, this paper includes the following sections:
1. A proposal for the expansion, in future testing protocols, of PAEB tests conducted in dark,
nighttime conditions. More precisely, we propose expanded testing in less than 1 lux (lx)
ambient illuminance, using low-beam headlights, and without streetlights.
2. Results of Velodyne’s nighttime PAEB tests comparing a lidar-based system to one example
of current camera and radar-based technology.
3. An in-depth look at Velodyne’s PAEB solution.