If you fear hitting a pedestrian while driving at night, you’re not alone. In a new poll commissioned by Ford, night blindness and hitting a pedestrian top the list of night-time driving fears. Ford recently announced a new technology that not only detects a pedestrian at night but can actually stop the vehicle if the driver fails to respond to a warning.

There’s a good reason why people fear hitting a pedestrian: it’s more common than we like to think. In Europe, one in five fatalities in 2014 involving an automobile were pedestrians and almost half of these accidents occurred at night.^*

Ford’s advanced Pedestrian Detection uses radar located in the bumper and a camera mounted in the windshield that delivers 30 shots per second. The system is able to pick out a pedestrian, distinguishing it from a tree or road sign, and send an audible and visible warning to the driver. If the driver does not react to the warning, the system applies the brakes automatically.

“We know some drivers find hitting the road at night a stressful experience," said Gregor Allexi, Ford of Europe Active Safety Engineer. "Especially driving in towns and cities, pedestrians – sometimes distracted by mobiles – can without warning step into the road, leaving even alert drivers very little time to avoid an accident. Day and night, Pedestrian Detection is designed to help identify people already in – or about to step into – the road.”

This advanced Pedestrian Detection technology will debut on the next-generation Fiesta later this year in Europe. Look for it on the upcoming 2018 F-150 and 2018 Mustang here at Mills Ford Chrysler.

*European Road Safety Observatory. Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2016

Image Credit: Ford