Motorcycling can be dangerous – there’s no way around that. But technology has made a big difference in recent decades, with ABS, traction control, improved tyre and chassis performance, better helmets, riding kit and airbag systems. And now Ducati has confirmed its commitment to even more safety-assisting technology at a recent Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC) event.
The aim of the CMC, which was founded in 2016, is to improve active safety by linking vehicles with a digital communication network. That means that cars and motorcycles will ‘talk’ to the road infrastructure and other vehicles to avoid collisions and crashes. That could be as simple as temperature sensors on the roadside telling your bike that there’s ice on a bend or your bike telling a car about to turn at a junction that you have the right of way, preventing the vehicle from moving into your path. The possibilities are endless.
Ducati, with help from its sister company Lamborghini, has been working on technology to avoid three incident types: the junction example (above), called IMA (Intersection Movement Assist), LTA (Left Turn Assist) – which would be a Right Turn Assist in the UK, of course – and DNPW (Do Not Pass Warning). The Turn Assist function will stop a driver coming in the opposite direction, turning across a bike’s path (a right turn in the UK and a left turn in Europe), and the DNPW will stop a car pulling out to overtake when a bike is already overtaking it. All the systems use a series of warnings in the car and on the bike to alert both riders and drivers of the approaching danger.
Simone Di Piazza, Ducati innovation manager, said, “The road safety issue is really important for Ducati. We have already demonstrated this in the past, being the first motorcycle manufacturers in the world to have the entire range equipped with Cornering ABS and the first to introduce Blind Spot Detection. We are convinced that communication between vehicles, when ready enough to be introduced on all motorbikes and cars, will have a fundamental role in reducing the number and severity of accidents involving motorcyclists.”