Good Idea for Any Bike?

[threesteps]

I came across the following today. This GPS based concept sounds like it has some merit. Certainly would not need to be limited to any particular bike manufacturer. Comments?

"Honda Demonstrates Life Saving Motorcycle Technology

In its efforts to improve safety for everyone, especially vulnerable road users, Honda's leading motorcycle to car communication system is being demonstrated for the first time in Europe at the CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium event taking place at the Opel Test Track in Dudenhofen, Germany, from 22-23 October 2008.

The system generates warnings to riders and drivers of other vehicles by continuous exchange of positioning data from satellite GPS sources. This is particularly relevant as road users approach intersections, alerting them to other vehicles that are potentially on a collision course, allowing avoidance manoeuvres."

 

[Romain]

I share smitty's feelings. there are already too many rules and regulations and I don't like my taxes money being spent on pen pushers' lawyers and busybodies so they can tell me and everybody else what to do. My conscience and my common sense do that well enough.
Most of the time these ideas look good on paper and on small scale (very expensive) tests but they eventually end up as just a waste of money; though someone somewhere usually seems to makes a fat profit from it.
Think how difficult air traffic control is for highly trained personal and transpose that to the average cager. If you can't concentrate on what's going around you on the road, you'll be distracted silly by an overload of data and technology can let you down when you least expect it.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

I share smitty's feelings. there are already too many rules and regulations and I don't like my taxes money being spent on pen pushers' lawyers and busybodies so they can tell me and everybody else what to do. My conscience and my common sense do that well enough.
Most of the time these ideas look good on paper and on small scale (very expensive) tests but they eventually end up as just a waste of money; though someone somewhere usually seems to makes a fat profit from it.
Think how difficult air traffic control is for highly trained personal and transpose that to the average cager. If you can't concentrate on what's going around you on the road, you'll be distracted silly by an overload of data and technology can let you down when you least expect it.

FYI, just down the road from me there was the recent Metrolink and Southern Pacific train crash...it was so much easier to pin the fault on the dead engineer than to blame a Corporation for negligence, think of all the investigation hours & dollars needed to determine the responsible controller(s) who put them on the same track in the first place, much less allowing them to be so close with no line of sight view (the accident happened on a blind curve). There will be the usual promises of a fail safe collision prevention system, everyone from politicians all the way down to end users will say yes, but I will bet 5-10 years from now it will still not be in place.

Why? It is cheaper to pay for the 25 family lawsuits and the anticipated 40 to 50 accidents over that next time period, than to outfit a multi-million dollar interactive fully operational anti-collision system on the million miles of track, thousands of switching equipment, 100's of thousands of GPS controllers needed on the front and rear of every variable length train and un-told thousands of anti-collision devices at every intersection and crossing in all the major metropolitan areas, much less the rural ones...THAT IS THE UNSPOKEN REALITY :newsmile055:

 

[DDogg]

I hate to say this because it's a totally different topic, but it's BIG BROTHER watching us. Camera's on everycorner isn't going to be good enough. Being told what to do and now where to go is getting worse and worse.

 

[scrinch]

I gotta agree with Smitty also. While you are looking at that GPS device to see if there 110 cars approaching the intersection you just got your self a dog running into the street in front of you, and you are down.

Way too many electronic distractions, ie radios, gps, cell phones, to distract drivers attention, maybe less is better.

 

[Dr. Dolittle]

I'm going with everyone else here - totally stupid idea for a motorcycle. Nothing, I repeat - nothing, replaces your eyeballs, ears, and instincts when approaching an intersection, driveway, merge ramp, etc. Especially some high tech electronic device that lulls you into complacency and could lose power or have a multi-second delay right when it's most critical.

Similar system in the airplane world called TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) that works fantastic and has averted many disasters over the years but it operates in a TOTALLY different environment than what we're talking about here. Airplanes fly in three dimensions and don't have to deal with intersections, in fact it resolves conflicts by instructing you to climb or descend, not turn. This would work great on our bikes if we could convert them into part time hovercrafts!

 

[threesteps]

Some good comments. I looked at the concept Honda is working on as being more of an aid to help the cager note a motorcylce is near. I also agree it would not be effective if the driver is oversaturated with information. It's tough enough to process info while talking on the cell, eating, reading, listening to 110 db music, etc.

I am 100% in agreement that the biker has to take care of his or herself. Can't imagine anyone who has being riding for any length of time not recognizing cagers don't see motorcycles.

Guess I disagree with Smitty about using GPS. I've never had one, even when I flew in the service, but I have ridden with some groups where folks did have GPS on their bikes and I thought it worked great, particularly on some unfamiliar back roads.

 

[01dynaglide]

I have to agree. Not a good idea.

 

[Romain]

I can see NEWHD74FAN point but I think that there is a big difference to applying technological development and enforcing safety in public transports than in the private sector.
Nobody in their right mind would be against air traffic control or similar concept applied to other public transport where however many vehicles have to be monitored and controlled their number is very much smaller than that of cars and bikes.
The operators can also make sure that their drivers/pilots are properly briefed and trained to follow the procedures.
I think it's somewhat different for individual vehicle users.
By all means, make the roads safer by their construction and maintenance, by better roads markings and junctions controls and by limiting the plethora of road signs to the essential and by designing them properly.
Ensuring that uncaring dangerous road users who are a threat to others are kept off the roads would also help.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

I can see NEWHD74FAN point but I think that there is a big difference to applying technological development and enforcing safety in public transports than in the private sector.
Nobody in their right mind would be against air traffic control or similar concept applied to other public transport where however many vehicles have to be monitored and controlled their number is very much smaller than that of cars and bikes.
The operators can also make sure that their drivers/pilots are properly briefed and trained to follow the procedures.
I think it's somewhat different for individual vehicle users.
By all means, make the roads safer by their construction and maintenance, by better roads markings and junctions controls and by limiting the plethora of road signs to the essential and by designing them properly.
Ensuring that uncaring dangerous road users who are a threat to others are kept off the roads would also help.

I was only pointing out that where the rubber hits the road...individual safety anti-collision deterence would be too complex to manage by large corporation or small group of companies having to deal with shareholders and the bottom dollar, which just about trumps everything we would like to have done to make our sport safer, with prudent use of technology. Remember we are motorcyclists who accept the sport in spite of the risks. No worries!