What happened
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an independent nonprofit funded by auto insurers. On 30 August 2022, it published its first night ratings of pedestrian automatic emergency braking, for 23 vehicles. IIHS notes that three-quarters of pedestrian deaths occur at night. An earlier IIHS study found that the technology cut pedestrian crashes by more than a quarter but made no difference at night on unlit roads. On a track kept below 1 lux, IIHS ran an adult dummy crossing the road at 12 and 25 mph and walking along it at 25 and 37 mph. Each test ran with low and high beams. The 2022 Nissan Pathfinder has Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection as standard. It was the only vehicle to avoid the dummy in every test. At 37 mph it warned 1.7 seconds before impact with high beams and 1.5 seconds with low beams. IIHS rated it superior, one of four vehicles. More than half earned a basic score or no credit. No crash avoided on public roads is reported.
Sources
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Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Few vehicles excel in new nighttime test of pedestrian autobrake. News release, 30 August 2022. Section on how the vehicles fared.
Only the superior-rated Pathfinder avoided a collision with the pedestrian dummy in both test scenarios at all test speeds with both its low and high beams.
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Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 2022 Nissan Pathfinder, front crash prevention: pedestrian (night). Vehicle ratings page, rating for all 2022-25 models, read on 1 November 2026. The quoted results are for the adult dummy walking along the road.
In the 37 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision when using its high beams and a warning was issued 1.7 seconds before impact. When using its low beams, this vehicle avoided a collision and a warning was issued 1.5 seconds before impact.
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection was standard on the 2022 Pathfinder. IIHS kept ambient light on the track below 1 lux and ran each test with low and high beams. The score included credit for high-beam assist, which switches on the high beams when no other vehicles are nearby.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The car has the headlights used in the test, since IIHS rates camera-based systems only with those headlights. The pedestrian crosses the road or walks in the car's lane, as in the tested scenarios.
Entry details
- Sector
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Road vehicle crash avoidance.
- Purpose
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Nissan built Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection to warn the driver and brake automatically when a collision with a pedestrian or a vehicle ahead is likely.
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Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Automatic Emergency Braking on the Pathfinder passes every night test (AIBD-1101). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1101.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)