A method of tracking a moving object proximate a host vehicle , the method comprising: receiving, with a processor and from a ranging sensor of the host vehicle, a plurality of detections corresponding to multiple points on the moving object over time; determining, with the processor , a position of each of the detections relative to a two-dimensional world coordinate system; and determining, with the processor , an estimated heading angle of the moving object , the estimated heading angle defining a direction of motion of a centroid of the moving object relative to the host vehicle , the estimated heading angle of the moving object determined by at least: for each of a plurality of candidate heading angles: defining an object body coordinate system for the detections, the object body coordinate system having a same origin as the two-dimensional world coordinate system and a longitudinal axis that is parallel to the respective candidate heading angle; characterized by for each of the detections, determining a log-likelihood for the respective detection based on a respective detection's orthogonal position relative to the centroid in the object body coordinate system for the respective candidate heading angle; determining an overall log-likelihood for the respective candidate heading angle based on the log-likelihoods of the detections determined for the respective candidate heading angle; and selecting the estimated heading angle from the candidate heading angles based on the respective overall log-likelihoods for the candidate heading angles. receiving, with a processor and from a ranging sensor of the host vehicle, a plurality of detections corresponding to multiple points on the moving object over time; determining, with the processor , a position of each of the detections relative to a two-dimensional world coordinate system; and determining, with the processor , an estimated heading angle of the moving object , the estimated heading angle defining a direction of motion of a centroid of the moving object relative to the host vehicle , the estimated heading angle of the moving object determined by at least: for each of a plurality of candidate heading angles: defining an object body coordinate system for the detections, the object body coordinate system having a same origin as the two-dimensional world coordinate system and a longitudinal axis that is parallel to the respective candidate heading angle; characterized by for each of the detections, determining a log-likelihood for the respective detection based on a respective detection's orthogonal position relative to the centroid in the object body coordinate system for the respective candidate heading angle; determining an overall log-likelihood for the respective candidate heading angle based on the log-likelihoods of the detections determined for the respective candidate heading angle; and selecting the estimated heading angle from the candidate heading angles based on the respective overall log-likelihoods for the candidate heading angles. defining an object body coordinate system for the detections, the object body coordinate system having a same origin as the two-dimensional world coordinate system and a longitudinal axis that is parallel to the respective candidate heading angle; characterized by for each of the detections, determining a log-likelihood for the respective detection based on a respective detection's orthogonal position relative to the centroid in the object body coordinate system for the respective candidate heading angle; determining an overall log-likelihood for the respective candidate heading angle based on the log-likelihoods of the detections determined for the respective candidate heading angle; and selecting the estimated heading angle from the candidate heading angles based on the respective overall log-likelihoods for the candidate heading angles. <EOS>