Systems and methods are provided for detecting an object in front of a vehicle. In one implementation, an object detecting system includes an image capture device configured to acquire a plurality of images of an area, a data interface, and a processing device programmed to compare a first image to a second image to determine displacement vectors between pixels. The processing device is also programmed to search for a region of coherent expansion that is a set of pixels in at least one of the first image and the second image, for which there exists a common focus of expansion and a common scale magnitude such that the set of pixels satisfy a relationship between pixel positions, displacement vectors, the common focus of expansion, and the common scale magnitude. The processing device is further programmed to identify presence of a substantially upright object based on the set of pixels.