Motorbike manufacturers working for a safer future

The Connected Motorcycle Consortium is the result of the sector’s manufacturers joining forces to bring the safety benefits of co-operative ITS to motorbike riders – but it is an initiative that is facing challenges in implementing the technology. Formed in 2015 with founding members BMW, Honda and Yamaha, CMC was created following an MoU agreed to by ACEM, the peak European motorcycle organisation representing major manufacturers, in 2014. Under this MoU, manufacturers agreed to work together to develop C-
October 12, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Easy rider: Kazuyuki Maruyama of Honda

The Connected Motorcycle Consortium is the result of the sector’s manufacturers joining forces to bring the safety benefits of co-operative ITS to motorbike riders – but it is an initiative that is facing challenges in implementing the technology. Formed in 2015 with founding members 1731 BMW, 1683 Honda and 6654 Yamaha, 6480 CMC was created following an MoU agreed to by ACEM, the peak European motorcycle organisation representing major manufacturers, in 2014. Under this MoU, manufacturers agreed to work together to develop C-ITS by 2020 for at least one model in each manufacturer’s range, allowing motorcycles to take advantage of the safety benefits of ITS.

Other major manufacturers are set to come on board in the near future, according to CMC co-ordinator Thomas Bischoff. Bischoff said that with 50% of motorcyclist fatalities resulting from other motorists being unaware of a motorcycle’s presence there were compelling safety arguments in developing C-ITS for this sector.

At the same time, he said, there were significant engineering, physical and even cultural challenges, relating to motorcycle dynamics, their size, shape, manoeuvrability – and the opposition by many riders to any form of “surveillance” or control.

“All these challenges mean that we can’t simply adapt current motor vehicle C-ITS technology to motorcycles,” said Bischoff.

CMC is also a forum to align the needs of motorcycle C-ITS with other standards developed for the broader vehicle market.

“Our aim is to fairly closely follow what is happening in vehicle C-ITS, so that the benefits of this technologycan quickly be available to motorcyclist,” Bischoff said. Road safety authorities in Europe, the US and Japan are watching CMC’s initiatives with great interest.

“And we’ve found that our presence at the ITS World Congress here in Melbourne – which is our first outside of those three markets – is gaining plenty of attention from road safety agencies in other regions,” he said.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Distraction dominated teen driver accident causes.
    June 3, 2015
    As a new report shows that distracted driving is a bigger cause of accidents than previously thought, Jon Masters asks what should be done to counter this problem. Research carried out by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has shed new light on the dangers of distraction for teen drivers. Six years of study using video analysis has shown that 58% of all crashes involving teen drivers are caused by the driver being distracted and proved that the influence of external factors is stronger than previously th
    Read More
  • Volvo warns EU on its approach to electric vehicles and its transport white paper
    March 22, 2012
    Volvo Car Corporation warns that EU targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions are being jeopardised by the absence of harmonised incentives to consumers. Another key issue is the urge for continuous support to automotive research and development, including electromobility. Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, told an industry seminar in Brussels yesterday that jobs, investment and competitiveness in the European car industry could be threatened by the European Commission's approach
    Read More
  • ICE pledges support for Mersey Gateway Project
    September 24, 2013
    The Mersey Gateway Project in Liverpool, UK, has been endorsed by the UK’s most senior civil engineer, Nick Baveystock, director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers, on a trip to the area see the location of the new bridge and learn more about plans for the project. The centrepiece of the Mersey Gateway Project is a new six-lane toll bridge over the River Mersey. The existing Silver Jubilee Bridge will also be tolled as part of the project, which is expected to help create thousands of new jobs
    Read More
  • Preventing connected vehicles creating disconnected drivers
    November 12, 2015
    Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are evolving at a rapid pace – but drivers’ ability to cope with them is not and at some point the mismatch must be addressed. Probably the biggest challenge the transportation industry has ever faced.” That is how Dr Bryan Reimer of Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab describes the challenges posed by semi-autonomous vehicles.
    Read More

Highlighted Content