Vehicle speeds for pedestrian pre-crash system test scenarios based on US data

As traffic and road safety have increased over time, the incidents of collisions with pedestrians have increased. Pre-Collision Systems (PCS) have been developed to mitigate the inherent risks pedestrians face when traveling near vehicular traffic. However, the dynamics of these crashes are complex, with many compounding factors making them difficult to model. The most dominant element across these collisions is vehicle speed, a strong determinant of time to collision. However, the dynamics of these crashes are complex, with many compounding factors making them difficult to model. The most dominant element across these collisions is vehicle speed, a strong determinant of time to collision and the severity of injury. A set of vehicles speeds at impact is developed based on the Pedestrian Crash Data Study (PCDS). These speeds are then associated with different types of crash geometries. Finally, an algorithm is developed to simplify the speed distribution into a small set of testable speed scenarios. Our results suggest that for many scenarios, particularly those involving turns, the speed distribution can be reasonably represented by one or two important speeds. This greatly simplifies construction of pedestrian precrash scenarios.