Subaru’s EyeSight ADAS Tech Wins Praise in HLDI Study
A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) finds that advanced driver assistance systems can help reduce pedestrian accidents and fatalities, and the nonprofit singled out Subaru’s EyeSight feature as setting a new and better standard for this technology.
The HLDI report found that the EyeSight ADAS feature cut the rate of likely pedestrian-related insurance claims by 35%, compared to Subaru vehicles without the platform.
Among individual Subarus, all vehicles equipped with EyeSight cameras showed reductions ranging from 18% to 57%, according to the study.
The institute’s analysts looked at bodily injury liability claims filed without an additional claim for vehicle damage, which tend to represent injured pedestrians or cyclists.
Analysts compared the rate of these claims per insured vehicle year for Subaru vehicles with EyeSight, and then contrasted those results with the rate for the same models without the optional system.
“The data clearly show that EyeSight is eliminating many crashes, including pedestrian crashes,” Matt Moore, a senior vice president at HLDI, wrote in a statement about the May 8 report.
Moore added that Subaru has taken a good system and made it even better, lauding the company for moving quickly to deploy the technology through its fleet.
All the 2018 Subaru models equipped with EyeSight have received the highest possible front crash prevention rating from HLDI.
The core of the EyeSight system is its set of dual-color cameras placed near the rearview mirror, which monitor the vehicle’s position on the road. This includes a lane departure alert and the ability to scan the road for unanticipated dangers.
In addition, the platform offers forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, as well as pedestrian detection, enabling the system to brake automatically for pedestrians or other vehicles.
The first-generation EyeSight used black and white cameras and was available in the US on two models: The 2013–14 Legacy and Outback and the 2014–16 Forester.
The second generation was introduced on the Legacy and Outback in 2015 and on the Forester in 2017.
The results of an HLDI survey from March 2016 also indicated front crash prevention systems are helping reduce the number crashes with other vehicles.
Systems with automatic braking reduce rear-end crashes by about 40% on average, while forward collision warning alone cuts them by 23%, the study found.
The report concluded that if all vehicles had been equipped with an “autobrake” that worked as well as the systems studied, there would have been at least 700,000 fewer police-reported rear-end crashes in 2013.
Despite advances in front-collision technology, the HLDI study found pedestrian deaths have jumped 46% since reaching their lowest point in 2009 — with pedestrian crashes becoming both deadlier and more frequent.
In total, nearly 6,000 pedestrians were killed in crashes in 2016, accounting for 16% of all crash fatalities.
The report, which looked at pedestrian crash trends between 2009 and 2016, noted that although the number of pedestrians killed each year has declined 20% since 1975, the 2016 toll was the highest since 1990.
