Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Accident Analysis and Prevention

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aap

Perspectives for motorcycle stability control systems

Patrick Seiniger a,∗ , Kai Schröter b , Jost Gail a
a
Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt), Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
b
Technische Universität Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), Darmstadt, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: On a global scale, motorcyclists are typically over-represented in crash statistics. This trend is increasing
Received 20 June 2010 as although total road crashes and fatalities have decreased over the last fifteen years, motorcycle crash
Received in revised form volumes have not. This paper describes the potential of stability control systems to help save motorcy-
10 November 2010
clists’ lives. It summarizes safety research conducted and commissioned by the Federal Highway Research
Accepted 24 November 2010
Institute (Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen, BASt) during the last twenty-five years, with particular focus
on the authors’ own work in the last five years, and the state of the art in motorcycle control systems.
Keywords:
The conclusion is that further investigation and improvement of these systems should be encouraged.
Motorcycle
Stabilizing effects
Unfortunately, active stabilization of motorcycles is not presently possible and may not be possible in the
ABS future. Therefore, further development, evolution and optimization of Anti-Lock Brake Systems (ABSs)
and Traction Control Systems (TCS) should be undertaken, and Anti-Lock Brake Systems (ABSs) should
be mandatory on powered two-wheelers. These steps will make the powered two-wheeler a safer urban
transportation system.
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction to operate under high lateral accelerations (such as those expe-

rienced when cornering). ABS that allows braking at high lateral
In the white paper “European Transport Policy for 2010”, the accelerations could contribute to lowering accident rates. The tech-
European Commission defines the goal to reduce the overall traffic nical foundations for such a system have been laid in research
fatality rate in Europe by 50% during the period 2001–2010. Some projects carried out on behalf of BASt by the Technical Univer-
(but not all) EU member states are on course to achieve that goal. sity Darmstadt (Technische Universität Darmstadt, TU Darmstadt)
Motorcyclist fatalities, however, have not decreased at the same (Weidele, 1994). In a more holistic study, driver behavior during
rate, and as a result, the motorcyclists’ share of traffic fatalities has braking (Präckel, 1999) and the requirements for future motorcy-
increased. It is expected that the reduction of motorcycle accident cle brake systems (Funke, 2007) have been investigated, and the
figures will become a higher priority for policymakers in future potential for vehicle control systems beyond ABS has been assessed
efforts to reduce the road toll. (Seiniger, 2009). Concluding from this research work, an improve-
In this paper, the authors will show how active safety technolo- ment of ABS can be achieved, and in combination with driver
gies fitted to powered two-wheelers can contribute to motorcycle behavior improvements a substantial impact on accident figures
accident reductions and give an overview on measures, state of the can be expected.
art and what can be expected in the future.
One key contributor to the reduction of total traffic fatali-
2. Specific motorcycle stability issues
ties over the last decade are vehicle stability control systems,
most prominently Bosch’s Electronic Stability Control (ESC) (see
The different and complex driving dynamics of motorcycles
Langwieder, 2004; Kreiss et al., 2005) (ESC effectiveness in rele-
in comparison to four-wheeled vehicles are certainly the main
vant crashes is found to be ∼45%). A recent confirmation of these
issue in designing vehicle stability control systems for motorcycles.
figures can be found in Gail (2008) (effectiveness for all accidents is
Motorcycles are inherently unstable vehicles, as their stabilization
∼13%). However, the most sophisticated system available for pow-
depends on two mechanisms. If travel velocity is sufficiently high,
ered two-wheelers is an Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS). While it
the motorcycles’ wheels act as gyroscopes. At lower velocities, the
undoubtedly provides safety benefits, it is presently not designed
rider stabilizes the motorcycle predominantly by handle bar move-
ment and the position of their body. Both mechanisms depend
on sufficient friction between the tires and the road. If the avail-
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 2204 43619. able friction limit is exceeded, motorcycles can become irreversibly
E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Seiniger). unstable, leading to a crash. This can also occur in the case of wheel

0001-4575/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.aap.2010.11.018
 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81 75

Table 1
Share of loss of control accidents on all accidents, figures for Germany 2007.

Slightly Severely Fatalities

injureda injured

All powered two-wheelers 36.8% 52.5% 60%

Motorcycles (>125 cm3 engine 40.1% 57.7% 60%
displacement)
All traffic participants 16.2% 31% 41%
a
Official German definition: accident participants that had to stay in hospital at
least for one night are severely injured. Those who were treated at the scene or could
leave earlier are slightly injured.

eration, and that can only work if there is sufficient friction between
the road and tire. Stabilization is not present in any instance where
the available friction limit is exceeded, which may occur on slippery
roads, and also if the acceleration or braking forces are too high.

2.2. Braking stability

The brake systems of four-wheeled vehicles are commonly

designed to lock the front wheels first. In the case of locked front
wheels, the vehicle side-slip angular motion is stabilized by the
rear wheels that generate side forces that compensate the side-slip
angle (Funke, 2007; Seiniger, 2009).
As described, the gyroscopic stabilization of a two-wheeled
vehicle vanishes whenever the front wheel locks, so this mech-
anism cannot be used on two-wheelers. Moreover, the capsizing
motion that generally occurs as a result of a locked front wheel gen-
erates a camber side force on the rear wheel. The sum of the side
forces on the rear wheel does not stabilize the side-slip angular
Fig. 1. Definition of roll angle. movement, and for higher roll angles provides further destabi-
lization. Both movements combine to cause a sudden fall of the
lock which results in the instantaneous loss of the gyroscopic effect motorcycle that can occur in as little time as 0.2 s from upright
of the wheels. position, and an accident is almost inevitable (Funke, 2007). During
A full description of motorcycle dynamics is given in several cornering these times will be significantly shorter.1
sources (Cossalter, 2002; Weidele, 1994). Here, only the previ- As a conclusion, motorcycles become unstable when the front
ously mentioned driving stability and braking stability issues are wheel locks because of hard braking, and they become unstable
discussed, as both are important concepts with regard to under- when the road friction is exceeded (e.g. slippery roads).
standing the expected impact of control systems on accident
figures. 3. State of the art and benefit of motorcycle control systems

2.1. Driving stability 3.1. Accident scenario

The most obvious difference between four and two-wheeled Motorcycle accident figures (for Germany) have remained
vehicles in their operation is that two-wheeled vehicles can lean almost constant since the mid-nineties. Each year, between 800 and
during cornering. The equilibrium bank (roll) angle  depends 1000 fatalities and approximately 30,000 severe injuries occur.
mainly on the lateral acceleration. The roll angle as defined in Fig. 1 Three facts are significant in comparison with the total accident
is given as: situation:

FF ÿ v2 1. Wrong brake actuation is a contributor to at least 10% of all

 = arctan = arctan = arctan
G g R·g motorcycle accidents (Sporner, 2002).
with the centrifugal force FF , the weight force G, lateral acceleration 2. Motorcyclists brake weaker while cornering (Funke, 2007).
ÿ, gravity g, cornering radius R and velocity v. 3. Loss of control accidents (meaning a loss of control occurred
The equilibrium for the roll angle is unstable. Small perturba- prior to the accident) account for about 60% of motorcycle fatal-
tions in any of the applied forces can generate a roll moment that ities, but only for 41% of all fatalities (see Table 1) (Bundesamt
could either sharply increase or decrease the roll angle, leading to für Statistik, 2009).
a crash.
The bank angular velocity can be controlled by handle bar actua- Correct motorcycle operation seems to be a problem in some
tion: whenever the handle bars are turned into the bend, the lateral driving situations. Obviously, braking while travelling straight
acceleration is increased and thus the vehicle is lifted to an upright ahead (with incorrect brake actuation) and while cornering (with
position, and the other way around. weak braking and/or brake steer torque effect, see Section 5) are
For velocities higher than approximately 30 km/h, the gyro- fields where active safety systems can contribute in accident figure
scopic coupling of the front wheel connects handlebar movement reductions. The system of choice for these situations is ABS.
and bank angular in a stabilizing manner. Below this velocity, the
rider needs to turn the handle bars in order to stabilize the vehicle.
Both mechanisms depend on an increase of the vehicle lateral accel- 1
See e.g. the explanations in 3, S. 149, Fig. 106.
76 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81

150 Front Wheel

Regelein griff
Brake Control
Vorderrad Radgesc hwindVelocity
Front Wheel igkeit vorne
Rear Wheel
Radgesc Velocity
hwind igkeit hinten
v 100
in Rear Whee
Regelei ngriffl
km/h
50 Brakead
Hinterr Control

0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

10

Angle -10
in °
-20

-30 Lenkerdrehw
Steering Anginkel
le
Roll
Roll Angle
winkel
-40
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

60
Gierrate
Yaw Rate
40 Rollrate
Roll Rate

Angular 20
velocity
in °/s 0

-20

-40
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time in [s]

Fig. 2. Example of a corner braking situation from Seiniger et al. (2006), S. 378.

The fact that loss-of-control accidents are significantly higher Even though any ABS is better than no ABS, today’s systems do
for motorcycles cannot be solely explained by brake accidents. To not deliver optimal support during full cornering. None of the exist-
address other types of loss-of-control accidents, traction control, ing systems has a lateral acceleration or bank angle sensor, and thus
improved ABS (that can function during cornering) and also sta- no system available on the market today can adapt its control algo-
bility control are required, and of course a rider that makes use of rithms to cornering. The brake force oscillation on the front wheel
these advanced systems. that would be generated by ABS control induces potentially danger-
ous steering torque oscillations. Fig. 2 shows an ABS control cycle
during cornering.
3.2. Motorcycle control systems state of the art and limitations The front wheel slip rises at t = 0 s, a roll angle of approximately
 = 20◦ and a velocity of approximately v = 65 km/h. Note that the
Although ABS can be quite successful in preventing wheel lock, wheel velocity does not become zero because the ABS controller
they are not yet designed to work during strong cornering. This releases the brakes and allows the front wheel to accelerate again.
capability is expected for future ABS in the coming decade that will At the time the front wheel slip rises, friction potential is
make use of new sensor technologies. exceeded and the front wheel generates a significant side-slip
Motorcycle ABS has been commercially available since 1988. angle. In case of 100% longitudinal slip, the brake force is about 10%
Key milestones in their subsequent development were (Winner smaller than the maximum brake force, so at the time the wheel
et al., 2008): starts to lock, the brake force also decreases significantly (and at
the moment of ABS intervention even more).
The sum of all components of the steering torque is close to zero,
• Pure wheel acceleration controllers, two independent channels, as the braking situation is almost steady-state. However, steering
one for each wheel (BMW ABS1, ABS2, etc., Probst, 1987). torque has a part that is directly connected to brake force (see also
• Hydraulic integral ABS (Honda Single- and Dual-CBS-ABS) that Section 5). This part decreases proportionally with brake force, but
controls both wheel brakes to ensure a reasonable Brake Force the rider is not able to adapt his steering torque fast enough and
Distribution. These systems have a full hydraulic connection thus turns the handlebars out of the bend. The same process hap-
between brake lever and wheel brake. pens after the control cycle in the opposite direction, but obviously
• Electronic integral ABS (Continental MIB, Bosch ABS-M8). These the rider tried to adapt his steering torque. An effect on roll and
systems can apply brake pressure on at least one wheel indepen- yaw rates can clearly be observed, and if this had happened in real
dently from driver input, but still have a hydraulic connection traffic, a departure of the lane could have been the consequence.
between brake lever and wheel brake. This example shows that present ABS do not deliver optimal
• Brake-by-wire-system (Honda C-ABS; Nishikawa et al., 2008), support for the driver while braking in bends. It is important to
no hydraulic connection between brake lever and wheel brake say that without ABS, a fall would have occurred some 0.1 s after
(under normal operation conditions). the beginning wheel lock. ABS intervention (even if it does not
 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81 77

deliver full support) is always better than having no ABS on the 4.1. Detection of critical driving situations
motorcycle.
Although ABS operation while cornering is a challenge for Critical driving situations are defined by the fact that friction
vehicle and component manufacturers, the necessary scientific demand due to lateral acceleration is higher than the available fric-
foundations have been laid out already in the mid-nineties by tion. These situations occur regularly as a result of wet, slippery or
Weidele (1994). Their implementation and evolution requires mass icy road conditions, due to poor road construction (see Schweers
production roll angle sensors to adopt to the cornering situation. and Brendicke, 1993), leaves on the road during autumn months,
These sensors are available from 2010 on e.g. in the BMW S1000RR and as a result of sand or dirt deposited by wind or water on the
(Motorrad Magazin, 2009). road surface. In all these situations, the horizontal forces that can
However, the S1000RR control system at present only uses its be generated by the tires are limited to the product of the friction
roll angle sensors for traction control (BMW S 1000 RR, 2010), coefficient and wheel load. Relevant accident situations that derive
another control system that helps preventing accidents, with the from the defined situations are mainly cornering accidents both
first generation being available on the 1993 Honda Pan-European with and without braking or accelerating–the latter situations are
and the second generation on the BMW R-Series in 2006. being dealt with by ABS and TCS. Thus, the current focus for research
is situation without braking or accelerating.
The main requirements for the feasibility of a control system
3.3. Estimated effect of today’s ABS on future accident figures that addresses cornering accidents without longitudinal accelera-
tion are the successful detection of such situations, and effective
The braking task places stress on motorcyclists and leads to methods to stabilize the motorcycle during those situations.
mental strain—which in turn contributes to weak brake actuation In a research project carried out on behalf of BASt, these acci-
and thus leads to longer stopping distances. In a research project dent situations were simulated and analyzed (Seiniger and Winner,
carried out on behalf of BASt, the mental strain and stopping dis- 2009). Cornering accidents without braking are detectable using
tances were investigated on a closed test track (Funke and Winner, the vehicle side-slip angle. The side-slip angle of a motorcycle is
2004). Test riders were required to brake with different brake sys- close to zero in normal driving but rises substantially in critical driv-
tems on the same motorcycle. The different brake systems were ing situations. The side-slip angular velocity criterion ˇ˙ developed
a standard brake system with independently operated front and from the analysis proved to be adequate in critical driving situa-
rear wheel brakes, a standard brake system with ABS functional- tions (successful detection of all situations) as well as in non-critical
ity, a combined brake system, a combined brake system with ABS driving situations (no false detection occurred). Performance data
functionality, and a combined brake system operated solely by a for these situations was obtained using a test motorcycle equipped
hand control. Riders were required to perform braking maneuvers with outriggers, sensors, and data logging equipment.
in three different situations; travelling straight ahead and braking Field tests involving both critical and non-critical driving situa-
from 90 and 60 km/h, and braking from 50 km/h while corner- tions show a robust detection of critical driving situations using the
ing. Stopping distance and deceleration values were recorded from assumption that ˇ˙ is almost zero in uncritical driving situations–of
wheel speed sensors. Mental strain was measured indirectly using course with the exception of the geometric side-slip angle (and also
the heart rate of the test riders. some noise due to sensor errors).
The results showed that braking distances were shorter with Fig. 3 shows an example of this calculation method. Extensive
ABS, mostly because the brake force is developed at a faster rate (for testing has proven the feasibility of this concept to distinguish
straight ahead travel) or because the brake deceleration is higher between critical and non-critical driving situations.
(when cornering). The rider’s strain was higher without ABS. These
results clearly show the positive effect of ABS, even when compared
with performance during non-ABS stops on a controlled environ- 4.2. Stabilization of a motorcycle
ment.
Other authors estimate that the fitment of ABS on all motor- The goal of any driving dynamic control is to prevent or at least
cycles could lower the motorcycle road traffic fatalities by at least mitigate a critical situation. The roll instability tilts the motorcycle
10% (Sporner, 2002), 8–17% (Gwehenberger et al., 2006), 34% of rel- in a very short time and thus limits the time that is available for a
evant cases (Roll, 2010), ABS effectiveness in all casualty crashes is control cycle. Therefore, the primary goal must be the stabilization
estimated as 38% (Rizzi, 2010), ABS motorcycles are 37% less likely of the roll angle. If this goal is achieved, the secondary goal must be
to be involved in a fatal crash (Teoh, 2008). A cost-benefit study the stabilization of the yaw movement of the vehicle and the pre-
carried out on behalf of BASt reveals a benefit–cost-ratio of more vention of the dangerous high-side type accident where the vehicle
than four (taking into account the system costs, the effect of ABS on tilts over to the “high side”.
accident figures and the development of accident figures over the A simplified form of the roll equation for steady-state cornering
next decade) (Baum et al., 2007). is
Taking into account all these results, the mandatory application
¨
Roll ·  = hCG · m · (sin  · g − cos  ·
ÿ) + MGyro
of ABS on all powered two-wheelers is strongly encouraged. From
a societal point of view, the benefits are not negligible. = hCG · m · g · sin  − cos  · FS + MGyro

with the roll moment of inertia Roll , the height of the center
4. Concepts beyond ABS and TCS of gravity hCG , lateral acceleration ÿ, tire side forces FS and the
gyroscopic moments MGyro .
Another question that arises from motorcycle driving dynamic Roll stabilization is achieved when the sum of roll moments is
issues is whether any systems beyond ABS and TCS are feasible. positive with respect to an upright movement (theoretically a sum
These systems currently control the longitudinal forces on each of 0 leads to a stabilization, but in on-road situations the motor-
wheel but have no direct effect on wheel side forces. Future sys- cycle will still capsize because of the roll angular velocity), either
tems similar to ESC for passenger cars, or systems that stabilize roll because the side forces generated by the tires or gyroscopic cou-
motions are not feasible for reasons that are described in this chap- pling compensate the vehicle’s weight moment. Since the wheel
ter. However, future systems may serve as an electronic ‘co-pilot’, side forces in these specific situations cannot be increased, stabi-
comparable to state of the art aviation systems (Breuer, 1995). lization is only possible by applying gyroscopic moments, however
78 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81

Fahrt 1
1
dβ/dt
0.5 Threshol
Schranked

dβ/dt in rad/s
Erkennung
Detection SP: 1
Event
0

-0.5

-1
31.8 31.9 32 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 32.5
Time in s
Fahrt 104
1
dβ/dt
0.5
dβ/dt in rad/s

Threshol
Schranked

-0.5

-1
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Time in s
Fig. 3. Example of vehicle side-slip angular velocity in critical (upper) and non-critical (lower) driving situations, also showing the boundaries that are made up by reference
value and error estimations. Detection occurs for the critical driving situation (upper), but not for the non-critical driving situation (lower).

this method places technical demands on the gyroscopic devices 5. Possible evolution of today’s systems
that cannot presently be met.
Another option could be the control of the normal forces at the 5.1. Theoretical potential of ideal corner braking and brake steer
tire contact patch. The side forces of sliding wheels are directly torque problems during real corner braking
connected to the wheel load via the friction coefficient:
While today’s TCS such as that fitted to the BMW S1000RR
FS =  · Fz already feature a roll angle sensor and are thus suitable for use
Active suspension systems could permit control of the wheel when cornering, the same is not true for brake systems currently in
load of a specific wheel by lifting the vehicle body. For the time the the market. As described in Section 3 and also in the following sec-
body is accelerated upwards, the wheel load will be increased, and tion, effective corner braking is a demanding task that often leads
also vice versa. For motorcycles, this control method will also raise to (near) accidents.
the friction demand, so the positive effect on side forces is over- However, as is shown by the Kamm friction circle for tire–road
compensated, and stabilization cannot be achieved. More details interaction, corner braking under ideal conditions offers great the-
on this topic can be found in Seiniger (2009). oretical potential. For instance, when cornering at 7 m/s2 lateral
For yaw stabilization the difference of side forces between front acceleration (about 39◦ of roll angle), a deceleration of approxi-
and rear wheel needs to be controlled. The reduction of side-forces mately 7 m/s2 is possible if the tire–road friction coefficient is 1.0.
is possible, e.g. by control of the wheel slip. A simplified form of the A considerable amount of this potential deceleration can be
yaw equation is achieved by professional motorcyclists under controlled condi-
tions. Nevertheless, even for such highly skilled riders, the smallest
Yaw · ¨ = Fs,rear · lrear − Fs,front · lfront interference can immediately lead to a crash. Unexpected haz-
ardous situations in on-road traffic can cause riders to be shocked
Control of the yaw movement of the motorcycle is technically or surprised, leading to partly unreasonable reactions. Particularly,
feasible. This can help to prevent high-side type accidents. The net the simultaneous coordination of conventional braking systems
effect on accident figures however is estimated to be relatively low. under difficult conditions tends to demand too much of the rider’s
To summarize, full stabilization of a motorcycle with sliding control capabilities (see also quotes2,3 from Hurt et al., 1981).
wheels is not possible with today’s technology. However, with the
detection method using ˇ˙ as criterion,

• an ABS and TCS control algorithm could be able to sense the 2

12.1 Findings (page 417): “The typical motorcycle accident allows the motor-
cyclist just less than two seconds to complete all collision avoidance action.” –
onset of a destabilizing event even before wheel speeds change
“Motorcycle riders [. . .] showed significant collision avoidance problems. Most rid-
significantly and therefore apply smoother control action, ers would over-brake and skid the rear wheel, and under-brake the front wheel
• passive safety systems such as airbags could be triggered even greatly, reducing collision avoidance deceleration. The ability to counter-steer and
before the crash has happened, swerve was essentially absent.”
3
• and in the case of a motorcycle accident (or a near-accident), 7.18 Motorcycle Rider Loss of Control (page 150 ff.): “Also, those riders involved
in “running wide on a turn loss of control” gave the same impressions of having no
an automatic warning message to surrounding vehicles could be plan or strategy for traffic hazards. In those cases where the rider entered a curve at
generated. excess speed, the ability to brake effectively was always absent.”
 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81 79

Fig. 4. Generation of brake steer torque (BST) through lateral offset between tire contact patch and steering axis in cornering conditions.

Current combined brake systems (CBS) and especially ABS could oriented under large roll angles (Fig. 5), an over-braking of the
in the present situation provide considerable safety benefits, but rear wheel will relieve the front wheel to a certain degree from
the full magnitude of such benefits can only be realized if the rid- brake forces and thus reduce the BST effect in partial braking
ers apply the required brake forces. However, knowing the risk of conditions. However, in emergency braking situations, the full
falling as the result of an over-braked front wheel, most riders apply tire–road-friction-potential should be used at both wheels. As can
less-than-optimal braking forces, as was revealed by a naturalistic be seen from the BFD curves in the red areas for 45◦ of roll angle in
driving study conducted for BASt in the 1990s (Präckel, 1999). Fig. 5, the potential of such a system with regard to BST mitigation
Another dynamic effect that makes corner braking difficult for is rather limited. Preliminary test rides conducted at TU Darmstadt
the rider is brake steer torque (BST, Fig. 4). Due to tire geometry, the confirmed that hypothesis.
tire contact patches move out of plane with respect to the steering Furthermore, the test rides revealed a trade-off between the
axis when cornering. If a brake force is applied, especially at the benefit in BST mitigation and rear wheel stability. On road surfaces
front wheel, the contact patch offset to the steering axis generates an over-braked rear wheel has a strong tendency to lock and thus
a BST, that acts to turn the handlebars to the inside of the bend. As initiate ABS activation. With conventional ABS this leads to a per-
described in Section 2, this leads to an upward roll movement of the petual alternation between a sliding and rolling rear wheel, causing
bike, if the rider does not compensate the BST. Given a hazardous a jerking motion of the motorcycle. Under controlled conditions,
situation and high brake force gradients that can also arise from this is harmless and easy to control, but it might greatly disturb
ABS activation, the BST gradient may be so high, that the rider is not the rider in on-road scenarios, especially during emergency ‘panic’
able to compensate for it (see also Fig. 2). Furthermore, if the rider is braking. Therefore, the overall positive impact of a Corner Adaptive
shocked or surprised, the upward roll movement of the bike might BFD on the BST effect is estimated to be rather low, based on the
cause further confusion. The tendency of the motorcycle to leave its current findings.
trajectory tangentially often leads to an even stronger application Nevertheless, however small the potential of this solution may
of the brakes, which in turn amplifies the negative effects. seem, it is easily accessible by adding a roll angle sensor to cur-
rent CBS/ABS that offer the possibility to freely transfer brake load
5.2. Approaches to brake steer torque optimized corner braking from front to rear and vice versa, especially when the achieved ABS
control is relatively smooth.
In order to eliminate or at least mitigate the problems arising
from the BST effect, four different technical approaches are pre-
sented in the following section. 5.2.2. Reducing the offset between steering axis and tire contact
patch
5.2.1. Reducing the brake force The second approach allows a variety of opportunities to deal
Given the fact that the contribution to the BST effect is much with the BST effect, ranging from mitigation to full compensation
larger at the front wheel than at the rear, and that the friction- and even over-compensation. The functional principle of the BST
optimal Brake Force Distribution (BFD) becomes more rear wheel Avoidance Mechanism (BSTAM) is shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5. Friction-optimal Brake Force Distribution (BFD) at different roll angles (model calculation for a sports touring bike equipped with measurement devices,
FBfront/rear = brake forces, FG = vehicle weight force,  = tire–road-friction-coefficient): under cornering conditions, the center of gravity is lower than straight. Since the wheel
base remains almost constant, the BFD becomes more rear wheel oriented.
80 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81

Fig. 6. Principle of function of a brake steer torque Avoidance Mechanism (BSTAM, picture: Weidele, 1994).

For full BST compensation the steering axis is moved sideways future urban mobility solutions. In order to achieve the benefits
in such a manner, that it is always in plane with the front wheel tire that are available without further negative impacts on society,
contact patch by means of a double excentric layout of the upper further work towards improving motorcycle safety systems is
spherical roller bearing in the steering head, actuated by an electric required.
motor. Substantial progress towards safer motorcycles can be achieved
A prototype motorcycle equipped with a BSTAM is currently via the application of ABS. Even though modern systems can
being developed at TU Darmstadt in cooperation with HONDA in still be improved with regard to corner braking, their fleet-
order to investigate its function under various conditions. wide introduction would be socio-economically sensible with a
benefit–cost-ratio of more than four. The subsequent impact on
5.2.3. Adapting the steering damper characteristics accident figures is estimated in various independent studies to be in
Semi active steering damper control with speed and accel- the range from 8% to 38% reduction. On the basis of these results, all
eration dependant damping is already available (e.g. the Honda motorcycles should be equipped with ABS in order to significantly
Electronic Steering Damper (HESD) system in the current CBR reduce motorcycle fatalities.
range). Based on multi-sensor information (e.g. brake actuation, roll Further systems such as active stabilization of sliding motor-
angle, and others), such systems could be upgraded to selectively cycles (comparable to ESC in passenger cars) are not presently
react on BST relevant corner braking situations as well. However, possible and may not be possible in the future. Therefore fur-
damping forces can only be applied when the steering angle is ther development, evolution and optimization of ABS and TCS are
adjusted. The function of such a system is therefore limited to BST required as a basis for other advanced safety systems, particularly
(gradient) mitigation. control strategies for corner braking and new methods to sense the
onset of destabilization. Such efforts could help to reduce motor-
cycle fatalities even further.
5.2.4. Providing an active counter steer torque
It was shown that these improvements are possible and could
A fourth solution features an actuator to apply an additional
be realized with available technology. However, further research
steering toque. Based on a multi-sensor layout that, to a certain
is required to determine how the interaction between riders and
degree, allows a prediction of the expected disturbing BST, this sys-
these advanced safety systems can be best achieved.
tem allows further degrees of freedom than the BSTAM presented
before.
Both systems could be the basis for further future safety systems, References
such as autonomous corner braking or a correction of the current
trajectory before a crash, e.g. in order to prepare for airbag infla- Baum, H., Westerkamp, U., Geißler, T., 2007. Cost–Benefit Analysis for ABS of
Motorcycles. Wirtschaftsverlag NW Verlag für neue Wissenschaft GmbH,
tion. However, such “co-pilot” functions require thorough safety
Bremerhaven.
concepts regarding the intuitive interaction with the rider. Breuer, Bea., 1995. Approaches to enhance motorcycle safety. IATSS Research 19 (1),
7–17.
Bundesamt für Statistik, 2009. Unfallgeschehen im Straßenverkehr 2007, aktual-
6. Conclusions and recommendations isiert am 5.8.2008. Wiesbaden.
Cossalter, V., 2002. Motorcycle Dynamics. Race Dynamics, Greendale, WI.
Although motorcycling is dangerous when compared to driv- Funke, J., 2007. Belastung und Beanspruchung von Motorradfahrern bei der Brem-
sung mit verschiedenen Bremssystemen. VDI-Verl, Düsseldorf.
ing a four-wheeled vehicle, it has advantages, not only in terms Funke, J, Winner, H, 2004. Anforderungen an zukünftige Kraftradbremssysteme.
of resource and energy consumption, and could be one of the Verlag Neue Wissenschaft, Bremerhaven.
 P. Seiniger et al. / Accident Analysis and Prevention 44 (2012) 74–81 81

Gail, J., 2008. Einfluss verbesserter Fahrzeugsicherheit bei Pkw auf die Entwicklung Roll, G., 2010. Evaluation of the safety benefits of electronic brake-control systems
von Landstraßenunfällen. Wirtschaftsverlag NW Verlag für neue Wissenschaft in single-track vehicles. In: International Motorcycle Conference, Cologne.
GmbH, Bremerhaven. Schweers, T., Brendicke, R., 1993. Untersuchungen des Einflusses von Fahrbahnober-
Gwehenberger, J., Schwaben, I., Sporner, A., Kubitzki, J., 2006. Schwerstunfälle flächen aus Bitumen-Vergußmassen auf das Fahrverhalten von Krafträdern. 5.
von Motorrädern—Analyse der Unfallstruktur und der Wirksamkeit von ABS. Fachtagung Motorrad, Berlin.
Verkehrsunfall und Fahrzeugtechnik, January. Seiniger, P., 2009. Erkennbarkeit und Vermeidbarkeit von ungebremsten Motorrad-
Hurt Jr., H.H., Ouellet, J.V., Thom, D.R., 1981. Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Kurvenunfällen. VDI-Verl, Düsseldorf.
Identification of Countermeasures. Volume 1: Technical Report. Traffic Safety Seiniger, P., Winner, H., 2009. Objektive Erkennung kritischer Fahrsituationen von
Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Motorrädern im Hinblick auf eine Fahrdynamikregelung für Motorräder. Verlag
Kreiss, J., Schüler, L., Langwieder, K., 2005. The effectiveness of primary safety fea- Neue Wissenschaft, Bremerhaven.
tures in passenger cars in Germany. In: 19th ESV Conference, Washington, DC. Seiniger, P., Winner, H., Schröter, K., Kolb, F., Eckert, A., Hoffmann, O., 2006. Entwick-
Landerl, C., Deissinger, F., Wagner, H.A., Jahreiss, H.J., 2010. Enhanced rider assistance lung einer Rollwinkelsensorik für zukünftige Bremssysteme. In: International
via connection of the engine- and suspension control systems of the BMW S 1000 Motorcycle Conference, Cologne.
RR. In: International Motorcycle Conference, Cologne. Sporner, A., 2002. Neueste Ergebnisse der Unfallforschung der Deutschen Autover-
Langwieder, K., 2004. International field experiences with Electronic Stability Pro- sicherer mit speziellem Schwerpunkt: Bremsen mit Motorrädern. In: Int.
gram (ESP) in cars. In: FISITA World Automotive Congress, Barcelona. Motorcycle Conference, Munich.
Motorrad Magazin, 2009. Fahrbericht BMW S1000RR. Motorrad 25, 30–33. Teoh, E.R., 2008. Effectiveness of Antilock Braking Systems in Reducing Fatal Motor-
Nishikawa, Y., Takehiko, N., Takenouchi, K., Takayanagi, S., Tani, K., Fukaya, S., 2008. cycle Crashes. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington, 2010.
Untersuchung zur Kontrolle des Nickverhaltens eines großvolumigen Motor- Weidele, A., 1994. Untersuchungen zum Bremsverhalten von Motorrädern unter
rades mit kurzem Radstand durch Applikation eines Brake-by-Wire Systems. besonderer Berücksichtigung der ABS-geregelten Kurvenbremsung. VDI-Verl,
In: Int. Motorcycle Conference, Cologne. Düsseldorf, XII 198 (Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Verkehrstechnik,
Präckel, J., 1999. Die Motorradbremsung im System Mensch/Maschine/Umgebung. Fahrzeugtechnik, Berichte aus dem Fachgebiet Fahrzeugtechnik der TH Darm-
VDI-Verl, Düsseldorf. stadt; vol. Nr. 210).
Probst, M., 1987. Das neue ABS-Bremssystem am BMW K100 Motorrad. VDI Tagung Winner, H., Hakuli, S., Pusic, D., Wolf, G., 2008. Handbuch Fahrerassistenzsysteme,
Motorrad, Berlin. Grundlagen, Komponenten und Systeme für aktive Sicherheit und Komfort.
Rizzi, M., 2010. The effectiveness of ABS systems on motorcycles in reducing real-life Vieweg, Wiesbaden.
crashes and injuries. In: Road Safety on 4 Continents Conference, Abu Dhabi.