"Our engineers are continuously working to improve Mazda's crash avoidance systems and are already using these latest IIHS results to further assist us in this work, with special consideration for nighttime pedestrian scenarios.".
Researchers conducted trials involving a crash test dummy and three cars travelling at 25mph: a Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester.
The Honda and Mazda hit the dummy while it was wearing reflective strips, while the Honda also failed to slow down when a high-visibility jacket was put on the mannequin.
IIHS president David Harkey said the results suggest car manufacturers "need to tweak their pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems".
Automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems, which are fitted to all new cars, automatically apply the brakes if the potential for a collision is detected and the driver fails to respond quickly enough.
