New episode of the series “motorcycles copy cars”. After ABS and power steering, these are now two pieces of safety equipment that can be fitted to motorcycles.
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Emergency braking on both wheels works just like in cars. That is, a radar is installed in front. This will allow the speed of the motorcycle to be adjusted, therefore accelerating and braking automatically depending on what the vehicle in front is doing. This way, we always keep a safe distance. This has been around on cars for a long time, it’s called adaptive cruise control. And this device is now arriving on high-end motorcycles from Ducati and KTM. An option will allow for further assistance by coupling this system to emergency braking. As soon as there is a risk of collision, the motorcycle will brake very hard, on its own, until it stops, to avoid a frontal impact. A system developed by the equipment manufacturer Bosch.
However, there is no risk of surprising the rider and ejecting him from his motorcycle. This is why there will be several safeguards: either simply a big alarm to attract attention, then instructing the driver to brake himself or avoid the obstacle, or the system will only be triggered when we are already starting to brake and we are very tense on the handlebars. In this case, it will increase the braking intensity to stop the motorcycle as quickly as possible.
We can end up losing precious fractions of a second which would have made it possible to avoid the accident. This is why the Chinese CFMoto is currently working on a seat belt. We would hang it at the waist between the back of the seat and the tank. It would prevent being ejected in the event of emergency braking. This still remains a project. It will have to be approved and guaranteed that you can escape quickly in the event of a fall or side impact.
In any case, this is good news. Until now, two wheels have been the poor cousins of safety innovation. They are finally starting to catch up.