Honda’s Working On Crash Detection Systems For Its Motorcycles

Honda's reportedly working on a new safety feature for its motorcycles. A crash detection system is being developed by the brand that will have the ability to call for emergency services and is purported to be more advanced and smarter than existing systems. 

If you have an iPhone and/or an Apple Watch, it’s likely that while out riding you may have triggered its crash detection feature. For some, especially those that don’t stay up to date by watching the latest Keynotes from Cupertino, you might have been shocked the first time that this feature was showcased in the latest iOS update. However, this is an important feature to consider, especially for those that are into extreme sports or in our case, motorcycle riding. 

Other brands have already adopted their own systems which use existing sensors on most high-end or mid-range motorcycles plus a smartphone pairing feature that will automatically contact loved ones by sending a location and even call emergency services. 

Honda’s developing feature, however, is said to be more intelligent. As reported by Cycleworld, the system will take advantage of the bike’s, the phone’s, and even the Bluetooth headset’s sensors if any. Information from three devices gives a “higher resolution” than what the industry currently has to offer, and it can thus provide valuable information to first responders if extra care is needed. The information provided by these sensors can tell emergency teams whether a crash was minor or severe depending on the data collected. 

The system will first detect if there was a tip-over through the bike’s existing lean sensors. Even some of the more affordable bikes in Honda's range have an automatic lean sensor which is designed to shut off the engine in the unfortunate event that the bike is on its side. To prevent the bike from calling for help at the most mundane of parking lot drops, however, it’ll check with the next sensor in its array, the cellphone. 

At this step, traditional crash detection features will prompt the user to cancel a warning on the phone, which usually asks if a crash has occurred. If the warning isn’t dismissed in the permissible time prescribed by the feature’s designers, then the phone proceeds to call emergency services because it is assumed that the rider was unable to have the presence of mind to cancel the prompt. 

Honda, however, wants to take away that step, and factor in a Bluetooth headset. With this extra bit of resolution, the system can paint a better picture of the scene. The system can pair with the Bluetooth device and the phone to ascertain whether the rider is lying on the ground, unable to move, or whether he’s able to stand and walk off the tip-over. 

The system will be able to point to the relative position of the rider’s phone and his helmet. In extreme cases where the bike is on the ground, the phone is not moving, and the Bluetooth device in or on the helmet isn’t moving, the system will then have to go ahead to call emergency services. 

There are more layers yet as the system can also detect the speed that the rider was going at prior to the crash. It can also pinpoint the location of the phone and the helmet. The confirmation message will still pop up allowing for a cancellation of the message, but no response will prompt the emergency call function, and it will also brief emergency medical personnel before they even get to the scene of the accident. 

For now, the system is in its patent stage, but this safety feature is one we’re looking forward to seeing on Honda motorcycles if it ever gets past the development and testing phase.