IIHS Pedestrian Autobrake Tests – Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru

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.

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.

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

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.