Modern cars have a long list of safety features that are designed to help protect pedestrians. In fact, it would be harder to find a car that doesn’t come with automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, or night vision.

In 2022, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety began testing pedestrian safety systems and their effectiveness at night to help manufacturers refine and perfect systems to work better in the dark.

In January, the IIHS tested the sensitivity and accuracy of automatic pedestrian braking in three 2023 models: the Honda CR-V, the Mazda CX-5, and the Subaru Forester. They exposed all three cars to dummy pedestrians wearing four different kinds of outfits: all-black clothing, all-white clothing, a combination of both, and reflective clothing.

David Kidd, a senior researcher with the agency, changed the lighting during testing to see how or if the systems would be affected.

Two out of three couldn’t register pedestrians in reflective clothing

When all three SUVs were presented with a pedestrian wearing reflective clothing in very dark conditions, two SUVs plowed right through the dummy.

“One of the scenarios that we evaluated is when the pedestrian had reflective strips on its joints and limbs,” said Kidd. “It’s kind of like what you’d see with a construction worker or emergency personnel. As people, reflective clothing tells us, immediately, that that’s another person. But when we tested the three vehicles, two of the three never responded.”

The Honda CR-V also didn’t register the contracting clothes, which Kidd says is commonly worn by cyclists or runners. The Mazda detected all outfit choices except the reflective clothes. However, the Subaru stopped for every pedestrian, no matter the wardrobe choice.

“[The Subaru] was able to stop every single time, no matter what the pedestrian was wearing,” he said. “So, we know that these systems can detect pedestrians in a variety of clothing.”

Viewers were both impressed and scared by the results

The Subaru being the only vehicle to properly register and stop for pedestrians in dark conditions was great news for Subaru owners, but bad news for Honda and Mazda drivers. But even worse news for pedestrians.

“As someone who is in public roadways every day in high visibility clothing, this is concerning,” wrote a viewer.

A viewer who works as a first responder was especially shocked by a modern vehicle’s inability to register reflective clothes.

“As a first responder who regularly works at vehicle accident scenes on major highways, this is scary! Car companies, please fix this!”

Another wrote that people shouldn’t rely on vehicles to detect pedestrians for them.

“Safety technology is great, but it all comes down to whether or not the driver is paying attention!”