Car-motorcycle connectivity: finally a big step forward on the safety side?
A study highlights the contributions of car-motorcycle connectivity devices to improve road safety. Much progress remains to be made, but the first results are very promising...
02/02/2022
A study highlights the contributions of car-motorcycle connectivity devices to improve road safety. Much progress remains to be made, but the first results are very promising.
Motorcycles represent 2% of traffic but 25% of fatalities, often due to unsuitable speed and/or lack of visibility for motorists. There is therefore a potentially very important path for improvement in terms of road safety, through the intermediary of V2X technology for connectivity between vehicles.
This is precisely the purpose of the research project led by UTAC CERAM Millbrook and funded by Maif. On the tracks of the TEQMO test center dedicated to automated and connected vehicles located within the Linas-Montlhéry racetrack, the researchers carried out simulations of risky situations using a car and a mobile platform in the shape of a a motorcycle and its driver.
Equipped with V2X boxes that send information to users traveling nearby, these two "vehicles" triggered visual and audible alerts as soon as a risk of collision was detected, this according to probability calculations carried out taking into account speeds and positions on the roadway of each of the parties. And if the driver of the car was slow to intervene, braking was triggered automatically.
The simulations were carried out according to four scenarios, with vehicles moving at speeds between 10 and 40 km/h for the car, and 30 to 80 km/h for the motorcycle. Car and motorbike could either cross paths or, for the motorbike, find themselves in the car's blind spot, to simulate traffic in an urban or peri-urban environment. These scenarios represent 35% of cases of motorcyclists injured in an accident with a car, and 27% of deaths.
Proven results, but...
It emerges that the system demonstrates a certain effectiveness in all four cases: “a signal is indeed sent to the driver, enabling him to react and thus be able to avoid the collision. However, this alert is not always repeatable and is sometimes sent late, the reaction time offered, manual or automatic, being then too short. In addition, the more precarious balance of a motorized two-wheeler should be considered when implementing an automatic action, in order to prevent any risk of falling", comments Théo Charbonneau, Project Manager at UTAC CERAM Millbrook. . And this one to specify that the more users there are, the more efficient the system will be.
" We're only just starting. A certain number of conditions must be met. The precision of the GPS, essential for properly detecting the risks of collision, must also be there. Finally, more generally, this system must be reliable to avoid nuisance alarms”, adds Jean-Marc Truffet, project manager at the Maif Foundation.
Encouraging conclusions, therefore, with technologies that do exist. But there is still a long way to go to make them more reliable before considering seeing these systems become widespread. If equipment manufacturers and manufacturers work together, it is possible to see things speed up. The Euro NCAP organization has also planned to start evaluating V2X systems from 2025.
Car-motorcycle connectivity: finally a big step forward on the safety side?