Mandatory ABS is one of 10 motorcycle safety recommendations by NTSB

Lance Oliver
Sep 13, 2018

95 Comments
Responding to the Federal Highway Administration's 2016 Motorcycle Crash Causation Study, the National Transportation Safety Board issued 10 recommendations yesterday, including making anti-lock brakes mandatory on new on-road motorcycles sold in the United States and potentially requiring stability control systems later on.

Noting that the crash study identified intersections and other vehicles violating motorcyclists' right of way as a common cause of crashes, five of the 10 NTSB recommendations (you can read the NTSB's full report here) are focused on better integrating motorcycles into the emerging vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure crash-avoidance systems. That's certainly something that could be beneficial to riders, if drivers who often don't see us when making a left turn at an intersection can be corrected by a car that does see us.

The other recommendations focus on changing our motorcycles, licensing and to a lesser extent, our behavior.

Most immediately, the NTSB recommended to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration that all new on-road motorcycles should be required to have ABS as a standard feature, something that's already the case in Europe.

Two other recommendations called for the NHTSA to conduct "research to evaluate the effectiveness of stability control systems for motorcycles." Based on that research, the NHTSA should establish standards for those systems and require them on all on-road motorcycles, the NTSB recommended.

In other words, if the NTSB recommendations are adopted by the NHTSA, ABS could soon be mandatory and traction control would go from something found only on performance bikes and more expensive touring models to a universal feature.

One of the NTSB recommendations, not directed to federal agencies, but rather directed to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the American Motorcyclist Association and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, called on those organizations to "promote the safety benefits of advanced motorcycle anti-lock braking and stability control technologies."

In addition to those two main areas, the other NTSB recommendations called for a study to find new ways to address alcohol and drug use by riders and a recommendation to "evaluate the effectiveness of state motorcycle licensing procedures for reducing motorcycle crashes, injuries, and fatalities among novice and unlicensed riders."

Just because the NTSB makes a recommendation, that does not mean it will necessarily become law. For example, the NTSB has long recommended universal helmet laws for motorcyclists. But yesterday's actions do nudge the United States market one step closer to the European regulations.

As we reported last year, the Motorcycle Crash Causation Study looked at 351 motorcycle crashes in Orange County, California, between 2011 and 2015 that involved an injury.

 

I despise ABS. If one lears to properly drive and handle their vehicle, no such technical crutch is needed.
Also, ABS can fail causing major problems. A buddy had the ABS on his BMW dual-sport bike fail on a long roadtrip. He managed to limp home. The ABS on my 2005 Dodge minivan failed.
Okay, it's rare, but it does happen. One thing I learned as a Navy Electronic Tech is that electronics will always fail at the worst time.

 

My first vehicle with ABS and traction control is my 2011 nissan leaf and I don't like the traction control it kicks in when I'm not expecting it and the ABS freaks out on gravel.

 

So long as this goes on, ABS will make no diffeence

 

Look at all the bull they added to vehicles and they still kill more people in the US than all firearm deaths.
Which is odd because according to the anti gun people the only thing guns are designed for is to kill.
Fundamentally guns haven't really changed a whole lot in the last 100 years, but cars are radically different.

 

I've got an '06 F 250 with ABS.. I had a little Honda car pull out in front of me 1 time , between the ABS and an empty spot in a store parking lot on my right , I was able to keep from hitting that car at about 55 mph . That has been the 1st and only time I've ever encountered ABS . So that one time it helped . But I do not care for it in general . And as a motorcycle rider for 35+ years , I'm not sure I would like it on my bike . But there's that 1 chance I could need it and it could change my mind . But with 3 bikes without ABS , and at my age , I don't see myself buying a another bike with that option on it .

 

With the push towards self-driving vehicles, we can expect that ultimately motorcycles will be deemed "unsafe", and thereby banned.
The penultimate aim of any government is total control of the population.

 

Just wait until they mandate airbags on bikes!

 

Or seatbelts.

 

Seriously? I was joking about the airbags on a bike. I can't think of a good outcome from an airbag on a bike.

 

All I imagine is the Mars rover designed to land encased in airbags. It would bounce through the crash and deflate sequentially to be right side up.

If it worked, it would be awesome technically in motorcycle accidents.

 

A new type of BAGGER.

 

There is no substitute for being a defensive driver and staying away from crowds .
Choosing to "crowd in" is also accepting the responsibility of seeing stupid happen .
On the bike or driving truck you've got to anticipate stupidity .

 

The one and only bad thing I hate about the Zero FXS is the ABS.
ABS on a dirt Bike is the worst thing any nut could design.

ABS is not something you can turn off and it sure keeps you from sliding out the rear wheel when you need to make a 90 degree turn in the dirt plus it is noisy with the brake being applied on and off in short spurts.

 

Well, I have seen motorsickles with ground pounding stereos, and even AC! When I was riding dual sports with a group, we had running jokes about Goldwings. Such as, having retractible roofs for when it rained, automatic parking, that rather than the rider giving the customary "hand pointed down" salute greeting another rider they press a button and the bike does it! Hehe!

 

I think ABS and traction control work well on a car. Motorcycles? I don't know. I gave up street bikes because people in cars say they didn't see you after they plow into you. I decided on having some steel around me. I would like to have an enduro in the future for mild offroading and running to the corner store since I have several miles of dirt road to get there. I could make do with a bike with 1970s technology though.