Protecting the unprotected

The proportion of vehicular accidents involving pedestrians in Europe ranges from 19-38 % depending on location. Furthermore the rate has not responded to advances in road safety. A number of EU projects have developed pedestrian-detection technologies but uptake remains limited.

One reason may be a lack of public awareness, and the benefits of such systems not having been quantified. The EU-funded ASPECSS (Assessment methodologies for forward looking integrated pedestrian and further extension to cyclists safety systems) aimed to provide the necessary testing methodology. The planned outputs included new forms of testing of various automotive pedestrian safety systems, including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems. The new tests were intended to integrate with current testing, in order to support consumer rating programmes. The 13-member project ran between September 2011 and July 2014.

The project proposed a methodology, to work in conjunction with AEB protocols and the EU's New Car Assessment Programme pedestrian passive protocols. The methodology calculated and compared the likely costs of pedestrian injury. The project's process involved a set of accident scenarios, built from prior literature and recent experimental data.

Other consortium work included establishing pioneering specifications for test targets, tools, and procedures to be used in AEB testing. The work determined boundary conditions, technical technologies, and the limitations of sensors. ASPECESS also helped resolve the complex issue in system design of when to brake and when not to, justifying the decision-making processes.

Lastly, the consortium examined impactor testing and simulation for a variety of common vehicle types. The team established the importance of various testing parameters according to head injury criteria, further contributing to the over-all assessment methodology.

The ASPECSS project set out to establish procedures for the testing of a new generation of vehicle-mounted pedestrian safety systems. Consumer acceptance of such systems, based on the proposed testing, may help to reduce the high rate of accidents involving unprotected road users.