An Overview and Testing of Pedal Misapplication Systems

Testing was conducted to evaluate the performance of Pedal Misapplication systems in five different vehicles in a simulated collision scenario. A 2023 BMW iX, 2023 Subaru Ascent, 2020 Tesla Model 3, 2020 Subaru Outback, and a 2014 Subaru Forester were tested in a simulated pedal misapplication scenario, whereby the test vehicle's accelerator was quickly depressed to 100% with a stationary pedestrian and vehicle target in front of the test vehicle. The testing involved measuring the performance of the respective vehicles' pedal misapplication systems, including when or if the throttle was cut, whether a forward collision warning was provided, or if the vehicle automatically braked to a stop. Results of the five vehicles tested will be presented and compared.