Bosch develops motorcycle to car communications to reduce crashes

Bosch, in partnership with Autotalks, Cohda Wireless and Ducati, has developed a prototype solution which connects cars and motorcycles, allowing them to communicate with each other in a bid to reduce the number of crashes involving motorcyclists. According to estimates by Bosch accident research, motorcycle-to-car communication could prevent nearly one-third of motorcycle accidents. The system enables vehicles within a radius of several hundred metres to exchange information about ten times a second about
May 26, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
311 Bosch, in partnership with 6765 Autotalks, 6667 Cohda Wireless and Ducati, has developed a prototype solution which connects cars and motorcycles, allowing them to communicate with each other in a bid to reduce the number of crashes involving motorcyclists.


According to estimates by Bosch accident research, motorcycle-to-car communication could prevent nearly one-third of motorcycle accidents.

The system enables vehicles within a radius of several hundred metres to exchange information about ten times a second about vehicle types, speed, position, and direction of travel. Well before drivers or their vehicle sensors see an approaching motorcycle, this technology informs them that a motorcycle is approaching, allowing them to adopt a more defensive driving strategy. If the system identifies a potentially dangerous situation, it can warn the rider or driver by sounding an alarm and flashing a warning notice on the dashboard. In this way, all road users receive essential information that actively helps avoid accidents.

The public WLAN standard (ITS G5) is used as the basis for the exchange of data between motorcycles and cars. Transmission times of just a few milliseconds between transmitter and receiver mean that participating road users can generate and transmit important information relating to the traffic situation. Parked or idling vehicles also transmit data to any surrounding receivers. To allow riders and drivers who are farther away to reliably receive the necessary information, the technology makes use of multi-hopping, which forwards the information automatically from vehicle to vehicle. In critical situations, therefore, all road users know what is happening and are able to take appropriate action in advance.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Assessing driver behaviour in work zones
    May 31, 2013
    David Crawford looks at moves to increase throughput and safety in work zones.
    Read More
  • Navtech Radar’s ClearWay in motorway trials
    March 26, 2014
    Navtech Radar, the world’s leading manufacturer of Radar-based Automatic Incident Detection (AID) solutions for traffic management applications, is supplying its ClearWay radar-based automatic incident detection (AID) solution planned trials on hard shoulder running on strategic motorways in the north of England. The trials are part of a new, all-lane-running smart motorways scheme. For the initial trials, Navtech Radar has supplied ten TS350-X Radars and the sophisticated Witness analytical software. E
    Read More
  • UTMC ANPR communications protocol aids traffic management
    January 30, 2012
    Telematics Technology's Peter Billington describes the effort to give English local authorities and police forces a UTMC ANPR open communication protocol. The story of the impact of communication protocols on the development and utilisation of intelligent equipment is a familiar one both inside and outside the ITS industry. At the outset, a company pioneering its latest technology invariably develops a proprietary protocol. This enables the company's products to talk to the customer systems which need to a
    Read More
  • BlackBerry warns of hacking danger
    May 9, 2022
    As connected vehicles inch towards becoming a common sight, there are concerns that they are ripe for hacking by malign actors. Alan Dron looks at BlackBerry’s 2022 Threat Report
    Read More

Highlighted Content