Study of motorcyclist’s behaviour during emergency braking in the perspective of training for safety

The main aim of the PhD activity here presented is to understand PTW’s riders behaviour in risky scenarios, when the time to collision is short and evasive manoeuvers are required. This research focus on the identification of the key components of control skills, together with perception skills, required for a high performance and also for effective training interventions that can reduce the number of PTW collisions or mitigate their consequences. Preliminary results from this research based on in-depth accident data revealed collision at intersections as one of the biggest threats to motorcyclists and weak braking during emergency events as one of the most common reactions. Furthermore, the first part of the research showed that different patterns can be identified among riders after analyzing two naturalistic studies from riders on Powered Two Wheelers scooter-style in Florence and cyclists on e-bike in Gothenburg. The thesis presents a procedure designed to study the performance of riders in emergency situations based on: interaction with a constantly changing environment, dynamics of a two-wheeled vehicle, and capability of the rider. Results from field experiments in a controlled scenario with riders of different level of competencies revealed that the procedure defined can detect patterns from high skilled riders different from low skilled riders. In addition, the results provided key values that can be used to level skill classification. The characterization of the patterns of the riders of different skills is presented including two models, one that predicts the braking performance and another model that estimates the risk of loss control of the rider, both based on the rider’s interaction with the vehicle. Finally a tool interface based on the performance models is designed to support training tasks prescribing objective feedback to the riders to enhance training for safety. The thesis presents some directions for future research in skills acquisition, naturalistic studies and applications for training that stem from the results. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research can support providing insights for future designs of safety systems, such as advanced braking systems tailored to the patterns of each rider.