BMW, Honda, Yamaha collaborating on C-ITS for motorcycles

[oVTo]

C-ITS = Collaborative-Intelligent Transportation Systems

They are working together to create the Connected Motorcycle Consortium. This is part of the Intelligent Transport System, an initiative to "enhance the safety, security, and efficiency in all transport systems". Most of the work done by ITS groups to date has ignored bikes. BMW, Honda, and Yamaha want to change that. They expect to add C-ITS features starting in 2020.

Cars now have systems that will brake automatically so you don't run over little Johnny backing out of the driveway or when you are too busy texting to see the rush hour traffic ahead of you just slowed from 75 to 15mph. There's also lane departure and blind spot detection, etc. Traffic info sent to your GPS so you can re-route to a faster way home is another example.

It looks like one of the first things the consortium is working in is vehicle-to-vehicle communication to enhance blind-spot detection in cars (maybe that includes bikes telling cars not to turn left as the bike is entering an intersection).

From what I've read so far (not much), there aren't any plans to control the motorcycle operation - the dynamics are just to complex for that.

Increased cost and complexity will likely be issues, making some of us long for the good old days of leaky Harleys and Triumphs silenced by Lucas, the Prince of Darkness.

Some good stuff, some not so good stuff, but it's the future, and it's on its way.

[myzx6]

Not a fan of most of this new tech cause I really think it just makes it easier for people that don't have the skills to drive in the first place become even less attentive to what's going on around them, because they are relying on the car to do it for them. Then the worst part is when the government steps in and makes it mandatory like tire pressure monitoring systems. I hear it all the time when I ask people when they last checked there tire pressure, the all too common response is " the light isn't on so I didn't think I had to"

I will say that I was passing an sub slowly with traffic a month back and the lady went to turn in my lane to go around a slow moving truck, as soon as she put her blinker on and started moving over(without looking) I saw a light go on for the blind spot warning in her side mirror and luckily she atleast noticed that and moved back to the original lane. No telling wether she would of been paying closer attention if she didn't have a blind spot sensor or not.