Night blindness the biggest fear among night-time drivers
And the company says that, for the latter concern at least, there is now a solution that goes beyond simply eating more carrots.
Ford is, for the first time, introducing new technology that is designed to detect pedestrians at night and then automatically apply the brakes if the driver does not respond to initial warnings.
“We know some drivers find hitting the road at night a stressful experience,” said Gregor Allexi, active safety engineer for Ford of Europe.
“Especially driving in towns and cities, pedestrians — sometimes distracted by mobiles — can without warning step into the road, leaving even alert drivers very little time to avoid an accident.
“Day and night, Pedestrian Detection is designed to help identify people already in — or about to step into — the road ahead.”
Out of the thousands of drivers surveyed across Europe, 81% admit to being scared on the roads at night, rising to 87% for women. More than half say poor night vision is a source of stress, and more than a third worry they might be involved in an accident.
Fears that they may hit a pedestrian were highlighted by one in five drivers surveyed.
In 2014, across Europe, more than 1 in 5 road fatalities were pedestrians, almost half of whom died following accidents that occurred after dark.
For the improved Pedestrian Detection technology, now able to work at night for the first time, the development team worked at night, sending life-sized dummies into the path of vehicles on closed tracks, and testing the system on public roads in busy cities including Paris and Amsterdam.
