This paper explores the feasibility of an Information-Theoretic Sensor-Based Predictive Control (IT-SBPC) approach for autonomous navigation in presence of pedestrians. Our technique relies solely in sensor data expressed relative to the vehicle and therefore no localization is inherently required. By combining the advantages of the information-theoretic framework and sensor-based formalism, the proposed technique drives the vehicle safely and smoothly towards the desired goal. Several real-time simulated scenarios, showing that the car is able to reach the goal with centimeter-level accuracy, validate the effectiveness of our approach.