C-ITS for motorcycle safety demonstration success

iMOVE’s Motorcyclist safety: Connected motorcycle pilot project is nearing completion, and recently a demonstration of the technology was shown to the press and industry and project representatives at a Melbourne vehicle test track.

This trial is the first of its kind, and, in light of worsening fatalities involving motorcycle riders is an important piece of work.

While motorcyclists make up just 0.7 per cent of total vehicle kilometres travelled in Australia, they represent about 20 per cent of all road crash deaths. In 2024, 278 motorcyclists died on Australian roads – a 10.3 per cent increase on the 252 deaths in 2023 and the deadliest year for motorcycle deaths since 1989.

Project lead Erik van Vulpen, Deputy Director of the Centre for Technology Infusion, said while C-ITS was being used globally for cars, the technology had huge potential to make roads safer for motorcyclists.

“This is the first time such an elaborate, collaborative effort has been made to understand how to make this technology work for motorcyclists,” he said.

“We have collected valuable data about reaction distance and times with and without warnings, to help determine the system’s effectiveness, but foremost we learned from riders themselves how this technology can be made to work.”

Work to date on the project has seen a survey conducted with input from 400 riders, 200 riders then conducted testing on a simulator, and finally 100 riders trialled the technology on motorcycles at a test track.

Warnings to riders were conveyed via a number of devices, including:

• smart helmets
• smart glasses,
• mirror and handlebar LEDs
• haptic wristbands; and
• smartphones

“We have collected valuable data about reaction distance and times with and without warnings, to help determine the system’s effectiveness, but foremost we learned from riders themselves how this technology can be made to work,” said Mr van Vulpen.

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I’d like to highly commend the system that I tested – I find it very useful for motorbike riders. Riding a bike requires 100% attention and constant 360-degree scanning of your surroundings for changes in traffic, pedestrians, pets, wildlife and etc. And many times there are hazards that are still hidden and pose great risk for me (even with full motorbike gear with highest ratings from motocap.com.au).

I find that the system gives me the most needed sixth sense when it comes to notifications in advance about hidden hazards. I really hope this system is going to be approved and further developed and fine-tuned and become available to motorbike riders. Learner and inexperienced riders will definitely benefit from having this advanced warning system to keep them safe on the road.

Plamen Georgiev, one of the motorcyclists participating in the test

Ian Christensen, Managing Director of iMOVE Australia, said: “iMOVE is pleased to support this exciting use of technology aimed at making roads safer for this extremely vulnerable road user cohort. Connectivity presents an opportunity to significantly increase safety on our roads if implemented correctly. This detailed investigation takes a comprehensive approach to evaluating C-ITS tech for motorcycle safety and will create an important evidence-base to progress the use of C-ITS for this important purpose in the future.”

The connected motorcycle project is due to be completed in mId-2026. We expect to make the final report on the project available shortly after its completion.

Hear from more of the test participants, and see the technology in action, in this La Trobe University video.