By Charles Pekow — Subaru has developed an EyeSight crash avoidance system that seems to improve safety for bicyclists traveling parallel to its autos, but the system doesn’t improve bicyclist safety in other situations.
Subaru’s driver assistance technology (https://www.subaru.com/eyesight.html) consists of cameras by the rear view mirror that can spot what a driver may miss, and an automatic braking system.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found the system cut the number of parallel crashes with bikes 29 percent but didn’t help much with cyclists crossing in front of the vehicle (https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/subarus-bicyclist-detection-shows-positive-results).
Subaru has installed the latest version of the system on its 2022 and newer models.
I believe I was once saved by this technology when a distracted driver was pulling out of a parking lot and hit the gas right as I was crossing in front. I was amazing at the reaction time of the vehicle stopping on a dime, and it seemed faster than human. Riding defensively in the center of the lane while crossing the vehicle also protected me from this collision (was getting mixed signals about whether the driver had seen me or not though I made vocal alerts).
I just wish these safety features came standard on large SUVs and trucks that are statstically multiple times deadlier in pedestrian and cyclist collisions, and their the tall hood heights create massive front end blind spots for shorter individuals and children. It would benefit everyone.