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The road is a dangerous place for everyone, but for motorcycle riders the inherent risks loom particularly large. When a collision occurs, these road users are highly vulnerable with little to no protection compared to drivers and passengers in enclosed vehicles.
The main contributors to accidents involving motorcycles include speed, compromised visibility, and a lack of alertness. Some incidents are perhaps unavoidable. Others might be prevented by mitigating the chance of human error, when the consequences of mistakes are potentially devastating.
Fortunately, wireless tech-based solutions are emerging as a driving force behind much needed motorcycle safety improvements.
Facing serious facts
The grim reality is that, proportionate to the number of registered vehicles, motorcycle riders tend to be over-represented in fatal and serious injury figures. According to Bus.com motorcycles are the most dangerous form of transport with around 213 deaths for every 1.6 million kilometers traveled by motorcycle. This compares to just 0.11 deaths for every 1.6 million kilometers traveled by bus[1].
And in Australia, for example, annual fatality rates per billion vehicle kilometers travelled are, on average, nearly 30 times higher for motorcycle riders than for vehicle occupants. When it comes to serious injuries, motorcycle riders in the country account for 21.8 percent of all incidents, despite making up only 5.7 percent of registered passenger vehicles[2].
Globally, motorcyclists and other powered two-and three-wheeled vehicle riders make up nearly a quarter of the 1.19 million annual road traffic deaths, while 28 percent of deaths due to road accidents are caused by motorcycles, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)[3].
Wireless tech holds the key
To address this enormous challenge and reduce the alarming statistics, innovative developers in the motorcycle equipment sector are turning to advanced technologies. By integrating powerful sensors, location services, and wireless connectivity, smart motorcycle safety gear gives riders a decision-making advantage.
Access to live traffic updates, hazard warnings, and optimized routes, among other features, can create a clearer picture of what’s around the corner, and when and how to react.
Heads-up display for helmets
German motorcycle accessories company TILSBERK, for example, has developed a wireless display designed to attach to the user’s motorcycle or scooter helmet to provide important information for riders without taking their eyes off the road.
Once connected to the user’s smartphone via Nordic nRF52840 SoC-enabled Bluetooth LE, the TILSBERK Head-Up Display (HUD) virtual display includes key riding metrics, including navigation prompts, lane indicators, speed limits, speed warnings, incoming calls, compass readings, smartphone charging status, and time. It also offers both a satellite navigation system and a comprehensive tour planning tool.
As Mirko Zabel, Team Leader Marketing at TILSBERK explains, eliminating the need to glance down at traditional displays or navigation devices helps to significantly enhance concentration levels and safety while riding.
Motorcycle navigation via sunglasses
Elsewhere, a pair of sunglasses also double as a motorcycle navigation HUD. The lightweight Blucap Moto sunglasses integrate Nordic’s nRF52840 SoC to provide Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity between the sunglasses and the rider’s smartphone, as well as the handlebar-mounted remote control. The remote control employs Nordic’s nRF52810 SoC to enable wireless connectivity.
Once the sunglasses are paired to the user’s smartphone, riders can use the fully featured Blucap Go navigation app to relay in-ride directions and other important information from the smartphone to the sunglasses’ high brightness MicroLED-powered HUD. Directions and other important information are displayed in the rider’s peripheral vision ensuring they receive timely navigation assistance, again without taking their eyes off the road, or being distracted by a handlebar-mounted smartphone.
Zhu Ning, Founder and CEO of Blucap, claims eliminating the need to mount a phone on the handlebar for navigation allows the Blucap Moto sunglasses to eliminate distractions and safety risks. The solution wouldn’t be viable without wireless technology; the Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity has enabled Blucap to design a minimalist HUD system that functions like ordinary sunglasses with no distractions to the rider at all, says Ning.
A safer road ahead
More and more connected motorcycle safety solutions are hitting the market to help prevent riders from hitting other vehicles, pedestrians, the surface of the road, or infrastructure and environmental hazards like signposts and trees.
One forecast by MarketsandMarkets projects the global connected motorcycle market will reach $757 million by 2027, up from $55 million in 2021, representing a CAGR of 54.7 percent during the forecast period[4]. This strong growth forecast is being driven in large part by the rising demand for better motorcycle safety and security, along with the prevalence of powerful edge computing and Cloud services, according to the analyst.
It appears the road to greater motorcycle safety—and consequently fewer accidents causing fatal and serious injury—will be paved by the IoT and advanced wireless tech.
- Read more: New, powerful SoCs aid drive to e-mobility
References
1. Which Mode of Transportation is the Safest? Bus.com, July 2020
2. Road trauma Australia 2020 statistical summary. Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, 2020
3. Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023. WHO, December 2023
4. Connected Motorcycle Market – Global Forecast to 2027. MarketsandMarkets, 2021
