IIHS Pedestrian Autobrake Tests – Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN references it as evidence that pedestrian-detecting emergency braking is routinely tested by independent agencies.
What it is
Footage of IIHS tests of pedestrian automatic emergency braking on 16 midsize cars, with ratings from superior to basic or no credit.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2020 to 2021.
What Hacker News said
Cites kbos87 · 2020-09 · on “Watch a Tesla Fail an Automatic Braking Test and Vaporize a Robot Pedestrian”
The IIHS does all sorts of autonomous braking test scenarios involving pedestrians - [this video] A pedestrian darting out from behind a car is known to be a tricky scenario, but some systems handle it at least some of the time. This scenario looked like the pedestrian was unobstructed and traveling in a predictable direction, so it’s pretty unnerving if it’s real. Long story short, even in Teslas, even just autonomous braking and crash avoidance is a great extra safety layer, but far from something that should be relied upon. Tesla is reckless for selling it as something that can be relied upon to successfully pilot a car.
Cites jfim · 2020-12 · on “New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night”
There are some newer cars with AEB that have pedestrian detection, though. You can watch videos of IIHS testing those features [0]. It's not a perfect solution but will automatically brake if a collision with a pedestrian (or other VRU) is predicted and the driver is not braking. [0] [this video]
Cites raylad · 2021-11 · on “Tell HN: Tesla rear-ended me on autopilot, no one will investigate”
These systems do work and have worked for years. They are also regularly tested by IIHS. See, for example: [this video] And Teslas at least used to do this too: [LINK] If they no longer stop reliably to avoid hitting stationary objects, this is a serious problem that needs to be corrected.
Cites raylad · 2021-11 · on “Tell HN: Tesla rear-ended me on autopilot, no one will investigate”
Nearly every major manufacturer has a separate emergency stop system that continually looks for an obstacle in the vehicle's path and applies braking force, overriding the driver and any cruise control or self-driving that is in use. These often use RADAR, have worked for years, and are routinely tested by international agencies such as the IIHS. See, for example: [this video] Teslas at least used to do this too: [LINK] [LINK] If Teslas no longer have this functionality, is a serious problem that needs to be corrected. That could mean reprogramming existing cameras or adding a sensor if the system really did rely on the now-removed RADAR.