Pedestrian collision warning system

A method for determining a risk of collision between a host motor vehicle and a pedestrian, the method using a camera and a processor mountable in the host motor vehicle, wherein the processor is operably connectible to the camera and the processor is configured to capture image frames from the camera of the environment of the host motor vehicle in the field of view of the camera, the method comprising:

• detecting an image patch in at least one of the image frames, wherein the image patch includes a candidate image of a pedestrian in the field of view of the camera;
• predicting at least two most likely paths of the host vehicle;
• computing a region of intersection of said at least two paths;
• determining whether the pedestrian is inside or moving towards said region of intersection;
• and
• providing a collision warning signal or a collision control signal when the pedestrian is inside or moving towards said region of intersection;
• or
• inhibiting a collision warning signal or a collision control signal when the pedestrian is not inside and not moving towards said region of intersection.

A system operable to determine a risk of collision between a motor vehicle and a pedestrian, the system comprising:

• a camera mountable in the motor vehicle;
• and
• a processor mountable in the motor vehicle, wherein the processor is operably connectible to the camera and the processor is configured to capture image frames from the camera of the environment of the motor vehicle in the field of view of the camera,
• wherein the processor is configured to detect an image patch, in at least one of the image frames, wherein the image patch includes a candidate image of the pedestrian in the field of view of the camera;
• wherein the processor is configured to provide a collision warning signal or a collision control signal if the pedestrian is on the far side of the curb or lane mark and is crossing the curb or the lane mark;
• or
• wherein the processor is configured to inhibit a collision warning or a collision prevention control signal if the pedestrian is on the far side of the curb or lane mark and the pedestrian is not crossing the curb or the lane mark.