Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's Motorcycle Research Group

[NevadaWolf]

Just stumbled upon this and it sounds like it'd be something worthwhile to participate in. Though it looks like the only current study (the NTHSA Study) is down in Southern California.

I know nothing about this aside from what's on the page and have zero connection. Just thought, in my opinion, if riders can help improve things for ourselves, it'd be worth looking into.

Opinions?

http://www.motorcycle.vtti.vt.edu/index.html

[Motofool]

What’s Required

If selected, you are being asked to participate in a naturalistic riding study. The study involves a 12 month data collection effort in which a data acquisition system containing sensors and cameras will be installed on your motorcycle to record a variety of driving measures. A link to the individual site consent forms, which may vary slightly from state to state, can be found on the Informed Consent page. To summarize, you will be asked to complete the following activities:

Bring your motorcycle to the research facility for approximately 8 hours to have the data acquisition system installed. A member of the research team will drive you to either your home, or place of work (within one hour drive from the research facility) and will return you back to the facility when your motorcycle is ready.
While the system is being installed on your bike, you will complete paperwork and testing at research facility, which should take about 2 – 3 hours.
After this, you will then be free to ride the bike as you normally would. After you return home, you will be asked to complete any questionnaires you did not have time to complete while your motorcycle was being instrumented.
We will collect the riding data periodically, typically once every 3 to 6 months. We will also collect data from the motorcycle after a crash, either at a place of your choosing or where the vehicle was towed.
Because the DAS includes cameras, you should avoid riding your motorcycle into any areas where cameras are restricted, including international border crossings and military bases.
Once your participation is concluded, you will be asked to return to the research facility to have the DAS removed from your motorcycle. While we remove the system from your motorcycle, we will ask you to fill out some final questionnaires.

Compensation

Total payment for participation in this research will be a maximum of $300 per year of participation, paid in several installments per year. You may be required to provide a valid social security number in order to receive your payments. Payments will be scheduled as follows:

After the system is installed on your motorcycle and you have completed all paperwork, including several questionnaires, you will receive $100.
A second payment of $100 will be delivered after the 6th month of participation.
During the 12th month, after you return to have the system removed from your motorcycle and complete a few final questionnaires, you will receive a final payment of $100. The maximum overall payment for those who complete all requirements will thus be $300 for the year of participation.

If you leave the study early for any reason, compensation will be paid at a prorated rate of $25 per month for your uncompensated participation up to the point of exit.
For more specific information about the compensation methods for the site in which you are participating, please refer to the Informed Consent for the appropriate site location.

[CC Cowboy]

I really don't think I could get insurance after participating.

[jeffb502]

Privacy:

What about privacy?
A Certificate of Confidentiality has been obtained from the National Institutes of Health. With this Certificate, the researchers and study sponsors cannot be forced to disclose information that may identify you, even by a court subpoena, in any federal, state, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings.

As soon as you begin participating in this study, the data is separated from your name and other immediately identifying information.

For the purposes of this project, only authorized employees of NHTSA and VTTI will have access to study data that could be used to personally identify you.

[jeffb502]

I like the goal of the study. Kind of a more scientific version of learning from others' crashes and close calls by watching YouTube videos and reading "I crashed" threads.

How will the data be used?
The real-world data collected in this study will be used to look for ways to reduce motorcyclist fatalities and injuries. The data will describe good and bad experiences in detail. These data will be analyzed to develop guidance on topics including: conditions that are present when riders have trouble, actions of other vehicles, evasive maneuvers that are possible, safe rider behaviors, unsafe rider behaviors, the sequence of events that end in a crash or near-crash, and potential countermeasures.

There was just a story on the news in the bay area where a rider was seriously injured in a night time freeway crash. Preliminary reports state the rider crashed into a disabled vehicle in the travel lanes, then 3 vehicles crashed into the crashed motorcycle. It was a mess. The rider was seriously injured. How did this happen? If the worst did happen at least the people with these devices could help prevent the same thing from happening to others in the future.