Estimation of potential safety benefits for pedestrian crash avoidance/mitigation systems.

Draft 2014-2015PDFTech ReportDOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-15-XXDOT HS 812 400HS7CA1/PJ921PedestriansCollision avoidance systemsPedestrian safetyInjury severityAudible warning devices in vehiclesAutomated vehicle controlLight vehiclesUnited StatesUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationYanagisawa, MikioSwanson, ElizabethAzeredo, PhilipNajm, WassimJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)United States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationNTL-INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS-Collision Avoidance Systems (Vehicles)NTL-INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS-Crash Prevention and SafetyNTL-PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLES-PedestriansNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human FactorsVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThis report presents and exercises a methodology to estimate the effectiveness and potential safety benefits of production pedestrian crash avoidance/mitigation systems. The analysis focuses on light vehicles moving forward and striking a pedestrian in the first event of a crash with no attempted avoidance maneuver in two priority scenarios: (1) vehicle going straight and pedestrian crossing the roadway, and (2) vehicle going straight and pedestrian in or adjacent to the roadway, stationary or moving with or against traffic. System effectiveness is estimated for crash avoidance and crash severity mitigation. Safety benefits are projected in terms of annual reductions in the number of police-reported vehicle-pedestrian crashes, fatal vehicle-pedestrian crashes, and injured pedestrians at Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale 2-6 and 3-6 levels. The methodology relies on target baseline crashes obtained from the 2011 and 2012 General Estimates System and Fatality Analysis Reporting Systems crash databases, system performance data from characterization track tests, and basic kinematic computer simulation of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts