In 2015, there were 12.611 registered motorcycle accidents in Germany. About twenty-five percent of all these accidents were caused by a lane change maneuver. Such accidents put the human lives in severe danger and might lead to serious injuries (AIS 3+) which need a long period of recovery. For that reason, different safety concepts for motorcycles are being investigated. The main challenge here is about finding an adequate safety concept, which is able to support the driver while changing the lane.

A benchmark of sensor systems in a virtual environment has shown that imaging sensors can be used to design a Lane Change Assist (LCA) in a compact package. This can be realized with two cameras allowing the sensor system to survey the complete safety area. The image processing is based on advanced algorithms, which detects objects on the driving way and lane markings. Thus, the image will be further processed for transforming the detection resultant points into an orthogonal view. This perspective shows the lane markings and the rearward surrounding cars. The distance calculation is based on the scaling ratio between the orthogonal view and the reality. At this point the algorithm is able to calculate the safety area in relation to the differential velocity. When the safety distance between the motorcycle and the car is too small, the LCA initiates appropriate visual and haptic warning signals. In addition to that, the motorcycle will have a pull upright to support the driver to react earlier in such situations.

The imaging sensor based Lane Change Assist is able to detect objects and lane markings. In addition, the LCA can be applied to every motorcycle, due to the compact package form. This research topic has a relevance to the technical session #6:​ Crash Avoidance Technologies.