Car ADAS Systems Still Struggling to Detect Motorcycles
by Ben Purvis
Radar and camera-based 'advanced driver assistance systems' (ADAS) are commonplace on modern cars and becoming mandatory on new models in the EU under the latest New Vehicle General Safety Regulation (GSR2) - but testing in the USA shows that these systems still struggle to 'see' motorcycles despite recent improvements.
One of the elements of these driver assistance systems is Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), which is designed to detect obstacles and automatically apply the brakes if the driver fails to do so. While these systems are shown to be effective in reducing rear-end crashes by as much as 50%, tests by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) in the USA on 30 new cars showed that a substantial percentage didn't react in time to prevent rear-end crashes when approaching a stationary motorcycle dummy.
Of the 30 cars and SUVs tested, seven were given a 'poor' rating and hit the motorcycle dummy even at the lowest testing speed of 50 km/h, with some barely slowing at all. And even stepping up to the cars rated as 'acceptable', all hit the stationary bike when the testing speed was increased to 70 km/h, albeit reacting enough to reduce their speeds before impact.
The results do represent an improvement over the previous IIHS tests, carried out in April 2024, when just one out of ten vehicles tested achieved a 'good' rating. In the new test, 16 of the 30 cars were rated as 'good', preventing or substantially mitigating crashes at up to 70 km/h.
The EU's GSR2 rules have required new cars in the European market to be fitted with AEB since July 2024, as well as so-called 'Intelligent Speed Assist' (ISA) that warns if you're speeding (but can be switched off), Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning (DDAW) intended to detect how tired a driver is, and Emergency Lane Keeping Systems (ELKS) intended to keep cars between the white lines.
From July 2026, there will be additional requirements including more driver distraction technology and enhanced AEB specifically intended to work better when it comes to detecting small targets like cyclists and pedestrians. That should also spark further improvements in detecting motorcycles, but there are inevitable concerns that drivers may become increasingly reliant on these automated systems.
At the moment there's little to no indication that motorcycles themselves will be forced to incorporate riding-assist technology, but the growing number of bikes fitted with radars and the rapidly improving state of the technology means it could become a consideration in the future.
