Improving the perceptibility of motorcycles through innovative headlight configurations

Perceptual errors made by car drivers are one of the main accident causation factors in collisions between cars and motorcycles. No or late detections of the motorcycle are the most studied ones and can be explained by the low conspicuity of motorcycles. The conspicuity advantage of motorcycles as the only vehicles with daytime running lights is presently getting lost by the growing use of daytime lights by cars. In addition to detection errors, the misperception of the approaching motorcycle's speed and time-to-arrival also contributes to accident occurrence and severity. In order to reduce motorcycle accidents, and especially to improve motorcycle perceptibility (both detection and motion perception) by other vehicle drivers, ITSs based on vehicle-to-vehicle communication are likely to provide effective long-term solutions (>15 years). In the meantime, other solutions have to be found and could quite easily be implemented, such as innovative headlight configurations for motorcycles. In two simulator studies, we tested various motorcycle headlight configurations, intended to remedy simultaneously the two perceptual errors made by other vehicle drivers. The impact of different headlight configurations (using color coding and additional lights) was studied in the presence of visual distractors (car front light configurations). The results indicate that headlight configurations comprising additional yellow lights on the fork and on the motorcyclist's helmet significantly improved motorcycle perceptibility by other vehicle drivers. Furthermore, the simultaneous use of dedicated daytime running lights and dipped beams by cars, as frequently observed in Europe, has been shown to be particularly detrimental to motorcycle detectability.