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Connected car technology manufacturer HARMAN International has announced the development of a system to remove blind spots in cars to avoid collisions with pedestrians.

Accidents involving pedestrians cause around 200 deaths and injure 15,000 people every year in the US. HARMAN's Reverse Pedestrian Detection safety system uses data from other HARMAN technologies, including a rear sensor and camera, to detect pedestrians behind a vehicle. Most importantly, it can detect smaller children aged 12-23 months, who are most vulnerable to such accidents.

The issue of blind spots has been exacerbated by the rising popularity of SUVs and drivers' overreliance on sensors and cameras. HARMAN claims that combining driver attention and real-time sensory data can improve this. The system uses a fish eye camera and advanced computer vision methods to detect pedestrians behind a vehicle. It then fuses this with data from its ultrasonic sensors, and uses the steering wheel angle and speed to calculate collision trajectories.

Reverse Pedestrian Detection has already been launched and is available for automakers. It is a software implementation that does not require additional hardware.

Danny Atsmon, senior director of machine learning at HARMAN, said: "Despite the introduction of a range of safety technologies found in today’s cars and even with the most attentive drivers, ‘back over’ accidents cause too many deaths and injuries. Tragically, over 70% of incidents involving children are caused by a parent or relative behind the wheel."

"Reversing cameras certainly increase the driver’s field of vision, but there is still an area on either side of the car that is not covered, and traditional reversing sensors are optimised to detect larger obstacles. No system is infallible, and the driver must still take caution, using mirrors or glancing over their shoulder. With HARMAN’s Pedestrian Detection system, drivers can reverse more safely with confidence."