Optimization of Active–Passive Integrated Evaluation Weighting for Pedestrian Protection

Pedestrians, as the most vulnerable road users, largely determine the severity of traffic accidents through the extent of their injuries. Traditional vehicle safety evaluations have primarily emphasized passive safety. However, with the widespread implementation of active safety technologies such as Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), passive-only assessments no longer adequately reflect a vehicle’s true pedestrian protection performance.This study employed finite element models of a sedan and an SUV to analyze changes in pedestrian head and lower limb injury metrics before and after AEB intervention, thereby quantifying the associated injury-mitigation benefits. The results show that AEB reduced the maximum head injury value (HIC15) by about 50%, lowering the proportion of severe head injuries from 0.217 to 0.118. Conversely, braking-induced pitch effects increased the proportions of severe femur and tibia bending moment injuries to 0.235 and 0.294, respectively, making them higher-risk than head injuries.By integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with expert survey data, it was further revealed that current regulatory protocols place excessive weight on head injuries while underrepresenting lower limb injuries. A revised weighting scheme is therefore proposed, reducing the emphasis on head injuries while increasing the relative importance of femur and tibia injuries. This study provides a methodological reference for refining pedestrian protection evaluation systems and for supporting the optimization of NCAP-type regulatory frameworks.