Pedestrian detection is a specific application of object detection. Compared with general object detection, it shows similarities and unique characteristics. In addition, it has important application value in the fields of intelligent driving and security monitoring. In recent years, with the rapid development of deep learning, pedestrian detection technology has also made great progress. However, there still exists a huge gap between it and human perception. Meanwhile, there are still a lot of problems, and there remains a lot of room for research. Regarding the application of pedestrian detection in intelligent driving technology, it is of necessity to ensure its real-time performance. Additionally, it is necessary to lighten the model while ensuring detection accuracy. This paper first briefly describes the development process of pedestrian detection and then concentrates on summarizing the research results of pedestrian detection technology in the deep learning stage. Subsequently, by summarizing the pedestrian detection dataset and evaluation criteria, the core issues of the current development of pedestrian detection are analyzed. Finally, the next possible development direction of pedestrian detection technology is explained at the end of the paper.