Why Are Motorcycles and Bicycles Less Visible in Traffic?

Overview

Objectives/Goals To evaluate why motorcycles are less visible in multi lane traffic, and develop methods to increase their visibility. Methods/Materials I measured and compared the view factors of motorcycle and other vehicles from different viewpoints in multi-lane traffic. The view factor is the angle subtended by any vehicle, from one edge to another in the eyes of a viewer. I tried to use a protractor to measure this view factor and analyze the data to see how this affects motorcyclist, but this was impractical for measuring 3D view factors. So I devised my own new method to measure 3D view factors. After this I created a method to increase the view factor of a motorcycle in traffic, using fiber/glow optics. When lined the fiber/glow optics on the motorcycle I experimented to see in what way do the fiber optics/glow optics increase visibility the most. Thus the view factor subtended by the motorcycle at the viewer increased, making them more visible and making them safer in traffic. Results I calculated the change in view factor, to before and after I added the fiber optics/glow sticks. Using the percentages, I was able to prove my hypothesis that motorcycles are less visible in multilane traffic, and that my method to create a visibility footprint around them did increase visibility for motorcycles in multi lane traffic. Conclusions/Discussion In the end I found out that though motorcycles are less visible in traffic because their 3-D view factor and visibility are less than that of a car, bus, or truck, I was able to create a new method to increase the visibility of motorcycles using optically lighting, shaped and placed strategically, resulting in dramatic increase of the 3-D view factor and visibility. This has the potential to thus saving thousands of motorcyclists and preventing many more accidents every year.

Competition history

• CSEF 2013 Physics & Astronomy · Entry J1814

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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