Current Research
Motorcycle Safety
Principal Investigators:
Graduate Students:
Emanuele Fadini, PhD Student
Brief Abstract:
Motorcycle injuries and fatalities have significantly increased over the past decade in the United States where riders age 40 and older are overrepresented. Especially in the State of South Carolina the motorcycle crash rate is among the highest in the nation. The causes of the crashes may include: loss of skills due to intermission of riding a bike since adolescence, lack of helmet usage, inability to negotiate curves prior to the crash, speeding, and inability to
control combined braking and steering maneuvers. Reliable contributing factors to motorcycle crash statistics are very sparse, especially for aging riders. The research will concentrate on the increased risks contributing to the dramatic increase in fatalities among aging motorcyclists. Besides addressing aging-associated rider changes (of physical, cognitive, and sensory nature) the study will also address objective metrics for motorcycle handling (stability/ controllability) through simulation and experiments. Finally, the research will categorize the types of orthopedic injuries sustained from different generations of riders. The overall goal of this research is to improve motorcycle design, to improve active and passive safety, and to reduce injuries when involved in a crash.
Impact:
The expected outcome include a better understanding of ageing related motorcycle crashes, improved motorcycle design to lessen injuries and a better understanding of the role of the motorcycle dynamics to prevent future crashes.
Preliminary Results:
Piaggio tests results and model validation
Rider Model (stabilizer)
