Automatic emergency braking has become common, yet the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that many systems perform far worse once darkness falls. A new nighttime procedure tested 23 models from the 2022 model year, and results ranged from superior down to no credit. The list below covers ten of those vehicles.
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1. Honda Pilot: Lowest Mark in the Test
In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety trial of automatic emergency braking for pedestrians in darkness, the three-row crossover earned no credit at night, the lowest of four categories. It sat among 23 vehicles examined, and only four of those reached the superior tier, which makes the Pilot result stand out as a failure rather than an average showing.
The rating applies to the 2022 model as tested. Because roughly three-quarters of pedestrian deaths on American roads occur at night, a family hauler that fares poorly in the dark is a pointed weakness for a vehicle built around carrying children.
2. Chevrolet Malibu: Optional Braking, No Credit
The midsize sedan landed in the bottom category too, collecting no credit for darkness in the same institute evaluation. Automatic emergency braking was available only as optional equipment on the car, so a buyer who skipped the extra-cost package would not have received pedestrian detection of any kind.
That detail matters as much as the grade itself. Safety systems that sit behind an upgrade fee reach fewer drivers, and the result suggests the sedan trailed the field on both availability and nighttime performance among the 2022 models checked.
3. Toyota Tacoma: Crew Cab Falls Short
Among small pickups, the crew cab version of the Tacoma drew no credit in darkness from the institute, joining the Malibu, Pilot and Nissan Altima in the lowest group. Four vehicles in total fell into that tier, out of the 23 evaluated with the new nighttime procedure.
The finding is limited to the crew cab configuration of the 2022 truck, not every body style sold. Even so, a failing grade lands on a mainstream midsize pickup, which makes it one of four no-credit results in the entire 2022 group.
4. Chevrolet Traverse: A Basic Result
The three-row crossover scored basic for nighttime braking in the institute assessment, which places it a step above the failing group but well short of the top two tiers. Reporting on the test noted how many mainstream models clustered in that middle-to-low band.
Basic means the system offered some pedestrian protection after dark, though not enough to be described as strong. The 2022 test covered midsize cars, midsize SUVs and small pickups only, so the Traverse result reflects one narrow slice of what dealers sell.
5. Ford Ranger: Pickup Earns Basic
The compact pickup in crew cab trim received a basic nighttime rating for its pedestrian automatic braking. Eight of the 23 vehicles tested ended up with that same grade, making it the single most common outcome and a sign of how many trucks and crossovers handle darkness only passably.
The score covers the crew cab as tested in 2022. Pedestrian detection performance carries real weight for pickups, and a basic grade, while not a failure, leaves clear room for improvement, since the superior tier was reached by only four of the 23 models.
6. Mazda CX-9: Midpack at Best
Mazda’s three-row crossover was listed with a basic rating after dark, leaving it in the crowded middle of results. The institute assigned that label to eight vehicles, and the CX-9 shared it with several rivals from both domestic and import brands.
A basic grade is better than no credit but not a reason for celebration. Only four of the 23 tested models earned the superior designation, so the Mazda illustrates how far the typical 2022 vehicle remains from the best performers in nighttime pedestrian protection.
7. Ford Maverick: Small Truck, Basic Grade
Ford’s compact pickup, tested in crew cab form, picked up a basic nighttime score from the institute, as reported when the results were released in September 2022. It was one of eight vehicles to receive that grade rather than the stronger advanced or superior labels.
The truck was a new arrival to the market at the time, which makes the result a useful early reading on how fresh designs perform. A basic mark suggests that novelty alone did not guarantee better automatic braking in the dark.
8. Volkswagen Atlas: Daylight Tuning Shows
The three-row Atlas also finished with a basic nighttime rating. Coverage of the results pointed to a radar-only braking system that had been rated on its daylight performance, a design that may struggle when a pedestrian is hard to see and lighting is poor.
Radar can sense an object’s position and speed, yet it has limits in identifying people, and cameras usually help with that task. The Atlas result shows that a strong daytime showing does not automatically carry over once the sun goes down.
9. Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport: Sloped Roof, Same Weakness
The sloped-roof sibling of the Atlas received an identical basic nighttime grade. Its automatic braking relies on radar alone, and the technology had been judged mainly on daylight behavior, according to the published account of the institute findings.
Sharing hardware across body styles means a shortcoming tends to repeat across them, and the pairing appears to bear that out. For shoppers weighing the two Volkswagen crossovers, the nighttime ratings offer no difference, and both sit below the advanced and superior tiers claimed by rival models in the same test, which separated the field more sharply than many buyers might expect.
10. Volkswagen Tiguan: Compact Joins the Group
The smaller Tiguan completed the Volkswagen trio with a basic nighttime result. Its system is radar-only and was designed around daylight performance, the same pattern recorded for the larger Atlas models and the likely reason all three landed in one tier, according to the coverage of the ratings.
The overall picture from the 2022 round is a market in transition. About 7,300 pedestrians died in American traffic in 2021, three-quarters of them at night, and the nighttime test gives manufacturers a measurable target for systems that must cope with darkness.
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