There has been lots of coverage lately on manufacturers filing patents, committing research and development on lots of interesting safety tech lately. BMW has been added to the list of brands focused on safety advancements. According to VisorDown, BMW is working on an Adaptive Traction Control feature for future models.
BMW’s Adaptive Traction Control system will have the ability to predict road conditions and adjust the traction according to those conditions with the use of a smart camera system. As of late, typical traction control systems act solely as a reactive measure in the case you lose traction – BMW’s technology will act as more of a precautionary aid than anything.
Rider aids and assists have been coming out from manufacturers left, right, and center over the past couple of years. These features may get ‘flack’ from hardcore riders because they “don’t NEED rider aids”, but little do they know, these aids are paving the way to a generation of safer riding. For years, MotoGP riders have been using TCS on their 250HP superbikes and most of them (with the exception of Rossi) prefer traction control. If a MotoGP rider prefers traction control, there’s a darn good reason for it.
I’m excited to see more and more manufacturers getting on board with technology advancements for the sake of safety. Even if they seem to be “taking all of the fun out of riding”, remember, not every person on the road is a professional rider.
Just because traction control works on a MotoGP bike doesn’t mean it can ever be sophisticated enough to provide adaptive/predictive control in real-life street riding. Racing at the top levels is done in a very controlled environment vs. the street, where dozens of parameters must still be analyzed by humans where algorithms can’t be trusted to PREDICT and apply the exact amount of control to be applied as conditions vary. In fact most top racers I came in contact with (often instructors at tracks days) don’t ride on the street… “too dangerous”.
All this in the name of “safety”, when it is really about getting motorcycles to play nice with autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Don’t worry, by 2030 you will rent everything, including your clothes, and you’ll be happy. Just ask Klaus Schwab at the World Economic Forum. If you don’t know what that is, look it up.
We need to fight against Big Brother, not invite it to interfere further into our lives.