Reflective clothing makes pedestrians more visible to human drivers, but it could make them invisible to the automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems meant to lessen the likelihood of vehicle-pedestrian collisions, according to a new IIHS case study.
“The placement and motion of reflective strips on the joints and limbs of pants and jackets allows drivers to quickly recognize the pattern of movement as a person,” study author David Kidd said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the moving strips didn’t have the same effect for the pedestrian AEB systems we tested and probably confounded their sensors.”
New federal regulations, slated to go into effect in 2029, could help address this by setting minimum performance standards for these systems.
