“It’s just one of those things where it was not front of mind,” Harkey told Automotive News. “You start with the basics of ‘How do we make this product work for easier conditions?’ ”
One trend within the study was a lack of automaker consistency. In many cases, two vehicles belonging to the same brand scored drastically different. For example, the Toyota Highlander earned a Superior rating, while the Toyota Tacoma received No Credit.
Harkey said the different methods applied to each model’s automatic-brake systems could be to blame.
“The one thing that’s clear is not all systems are equal,” Harkey said. “That’s the reason we need to evaluate every model and it’s the reason that we are pushing these ratings out.”
Previous trends point toward nighttime grades getting better, though. Harkey said that in 2019, only about half of models performed well in the daytime. In 2021, that figure rose to more than three-quarters of models earning Superior or Advanced.
As such, he predicted nighttime automatic-brake abilities will follow a similar path.
“Many [automakers] are confident that they can improve their systems in a way that will address the nighttime problem,” Harkey said. “We’re confident that the automakers will respond, and within a couple years, we will see these systems improved quite a bit.”
