Experts from AAA (the American Automobile Association) have conducted an extensive series of tests to find out how efficient the electronic safety aids of modern cars are. Spoiler alert: they aren’t.
After testing a Honda Accord, a Chevrolet Malibu, a Toyota Camry and a Tesla Model 3, the research team concluded that none of these cars guaranteed pedestrian survival. The simulated scenarios included pedestrians suddenly appearing on the road in front of the car about to turn right, and a child suddenly running out to the middle of the road from a roadside parking lot.
The outcomes were distressing, to say the least. Much of the time, the electronic systems failed to prevent collisions even at 30 kilometers per hour (18.6 mph). In particular, the child mannequin was hit 90% (!) of the time, and the right turn described above always ended in a collision with the pedestrian dummy.
AAA has put a special emphasis on the fact that the electronic aids were completely inert at 40 km/h (25 mph) and above, and could never detect a pedestrian at night in time to apply the emergency brake.