Cage to Motorcycle Communications - traffic safety?

[Klunkshift]

Information overload or another excuse for cage drivers to pay no attention to motorcycles?

https://www.traffictechnologytoday.com/news.php?NewsID=85569

 

[RossKean]

Has to be one of the silliest things I have seen. Driver is going to:

• Turn it off because its a pain in the ass
• Simply ignore it because its going off more than two hundred times an hour - usually when there is no bike within threat range
• Be MORE likely to be in an accident because of an additional distraction - buzzer goes off so he looks at the screen rather than for the bike
• NOT be willing to pay for yet another gadget he doesn't want when buying a vehicle
• The driver that needs it the most probably cares the least

I can't imagine such a device would ever become mainstream. Put it this way, I wouldn't pay for the device either for my car or for my bike!!

 

[Uncle Hud]

In the US, this is called "connected vehicles" or sometimes "smart cars", though not to be confused with actual Smart (brand) cars.

The concept is for every vehicle (not just motorcycles) to communicate with every other nearby vehicle, and transfer information about its location, speed, and direction; traffic congestion; road surface condition; weather; and a boatload of other data, depending on which industry lobbyist is talking to you.

Frankly, I think it's a good idea. The current hangups are ...

(1) How do the vehicles communicate? Bluetooth? DSRC? Satellite via GPS? Localized WiFi nodes?

(2) What 'language' will they use to transfer the data?

Of course, no one's really talking about the cost of implementation and who's going to pay for that. Not to mention who's going to pay for converting the hundreds-of-millions of "non-smart" cars already on US highways, or implementing a US communication technology in cars manufactured outside the US.

Seems to me that this will be solved as a natural outgrowth of the Tesla/Google/Other program with driverless cars, and the Federal government will be out of the picture.

 

[BigOgre]

Whenever I hear about this technology it grabs my interest. Not sure how I feel about it all but also know my opinions aren't going to stop "progress". What does concern me though is how to secure and protect all this, if that is even possible. We have enough targets already which if attacked/hacked could really screw us up on a national level.

 

[SacramentoMike]

If it helps, good. Maybe just don't assume somebody knows you're there because this or any other technology exists.

Personally, I communicate most often with car drivers the old-fashioned way. Digitally.

 

[wnyfjr]

Sounds sort of like ADS-B for aviation (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast). Unless the cage will only get pings from motorcycles, I have to think it would drive most drivers bat-**** crazy in short order. Riders might also likely get overloaded when in more urban settings. Also, I don't like the idea of absolving drivers of the responsibility of actually paying attention. So many of these new "safety" features today seem to make it easier to drive distracted and have the feeling that it's OK, the car will keep me out of trouble by nudging me back in my lane or braking for me because I have my head buried in my phone. Interesting idea, but not sure it's ready for prime time yet.

 

[Brodie]

Sounds like an ideal addition for the motorcyclist in this coming age of driverless cars. Anything to make the electronic brain aware of my presence will be beneficial. The electronic brain does not get distracted, it just processes data.

Humans, on the other hand don't need this kind of distractive input. I want the driver to be concentrating on the happenings outside the passenger compartment. To have yet another graphic display to cope with is flirting with disaster. The best user interface for the driver was developed way back in the '30s '40s and '50s with minimal distractions like idiot lights, knobs, push button radios, and simple gages. It's not like we're flying fighter aircraft with an external threat horizon. A gas pedal, brake pedal, steering wheel, and a lot of windows is what's needed to pilot an automobile, and not much more!

Oops, just got a text. Excuse me while I Dictate to Siri thru my Sena Bluetooth.

Brodie