Skip to main content

Motorbike safety can be measured objectively, says AIT

The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology) has developed a motorcycle probe vehicle to better understand the causes of motorbike accidents. The vehicle was deployed as a measurement method to evaluate popular motorcycle routes in Austria’s capital. Peter Saleh, road safety expert at the AIT Center for Mobility Systems, says: “Our aim is to give those who operate roads the precise information they need in order to reduce the danger in these areas efficiently,
August 30, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The 6625 Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology) has developed a motorcycle probe vehicle to better understand the causes of motorbike accidents. The vehicle was deployed as a measurement method to evaluate popular motorcycle routes in Austria’s capital.


Peter Saleh, road safety expert at the AIT Center for Mobility Systems, says: “Our aim is to give those who operate roads the precise information they need in order to reduce the danger in these areas efficiently, sustainably and cost-effectively.”

The motorbike, a KTM 1290 Super Adventure, was equipped with high precision sensors and video systems. The side cases were packed with recording technology which documented the condition of the bike.

Test drives gathered data on vehicle dynamics, trajectory and routing. This was augmented with weather, traffic volume and route environment and then analysed through machine learning to reveal road sections which pose a risk for motorcyclists.

According to Saleh, every road section which was classed as dangerous - after being driven along and analysed - had been the site of serious accidents in the past.

“The AIT/TU Wien research team is therefore in a position to anticipate future accident trends and can assess motorcycle safety on a scientific basis, even before anything has happened,” Saleh adds.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Autoliv joins OSCCAR future automotive safety project
    July 24, 2018
    Automotive safety systems company Autoliv has joined safety initiative OSCCAR, part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research project. OSCCAR (Occupant Safety for Crashes in Cars) also includes partners such as Toyota, Siemens and various academic institutions. Autoliv says it will help develop harmonised methods and tools for vehicle restraint systems which could feature in automated vehicles. Cecilia Sunnevång, vice president, research at Autoliv, says the project will provide information on
  • FIA launches road safety initiative: #ParkYourPhone when on the road
    September 28, 2017
    European MEP Dieter Liebrech Koch, FIA Region I and its member Clubs are launching #ParkYourPhone, a campaign to encourage responsible smartphone use in traffic. The campaign will be rolled out across Europe the Middle East and Africa by FIA Clubs in autumn 2017. MEP Koch said that while Europe has done much to improve safety, be it on technical improvements of the vehicles, better training for road users or infrastructure, new technologies, such as smart phones and tablets, bring about new challenges.
  • Hikvision passes history exam
    October 13, 2020
    Hikvision technology is being used in the ancient walled city of Xi’an, historical seat of the Tang Dynasty, to boost traffic flow – and it seems to be helping in China’s new high-tech hub
  • Counting the environmental costs of ITS deployment
    October 29, 2015
    David Crawford looks at the latest thinking about calculating the benefits associated with the environmental side of ITS schemes. The penny is dropping that some environmental costs “are being shifted outside the traditional bounds of evaluation methods” for ITS-based road transport projects, according to researchers at the UK University of Leeds’ Institute for Transport Studies.