As India’s two-wheeler market surges, traditional driver-assistance technologies prove inadequate. Can Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) bridge the gap between innovation and affordability?
28 Feb 2025 | 1056 Views | By Shahkar Abidi
At the ADAS Show 2025 in Bengaluru, Ujjwala Karle, Deputy Director & Head of the Technology Group & Digital Twin Lab at ARAI, delivered a sobering message to the automotive industry: when it comes to two-wheelers, conventional Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) simply don’t fit.
"If you look into ...
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At the ADAS Show 2025 in Bengaluru, Ujjwala Karle, Deputy Director & Head of the Technology Group & Digital Twin Lab at ARAI, delivered a sobering message to the automotive industry: when it comes to two-wheelers, conventional Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) simply don’t fit.
"If you look into very conventional systems which will solve this, they will not work for two-wheelers," Karle stated. "Many of them are not directly applicable to two-wheelers. For example, lane-keeping assistance, a common feature in ADAS, is challenging to adapt for motorcycles, especially in a cost-effective manner suitable for markets like India."
The development seems significant considering that over 75,000 two-wheeler riders died, forming about 44% of total road fatalities, as per the government data from 2022.
The challenges go beyond technical incompatibility. India is home to the world’s largest two-wheeler market, where motorcycles and scooters are the primary mode of urban mobility. Unlike car drivers, two-wheeler riders lack the protective enclosure of a vehicle, making safety interventions both more urgent and more complex. The industry’s prevailing safety solutions, however, remain disproportionately focused on four-wheelers, leaving a critical gap in road safety measures for millions of daily riders.
The Promise And Peril Of ARAS
This gap has given rise to Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS), a category of safety technology specifically tailored to motorcycles. Leveraging radar, cameras, and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), ARAS can provide critical interventions such as blind-spot detection, collision avoidance, and emergency braking support. For a country where two-wheeler accidents contribute significantly to road fatalities, these systems could be transformative.
Despite their potential, ARAS solutions remain a niche feature, hindered by a fundamental barrier: Cost. Unlike high-end automobiles that seamlessly integrate ADAS, the majority of India’s two-wheeler buyers are highly price-sensitive. Any additional cost—even for safety—must be justified within razor-thin margins.
Beyond affordability, regulatory inertia presents another hurdle. "Since regulations tend to follow established systems, ARAS should be driven by innovation. Collaboration, brainstorming workshops, and stakeholder engagement are encouraged to discover synergistic solutions," Karle emphasized. Without proactive regulatory frameworks supporting ARAS adoption, manufacturers are left navigating an uncertain landscape, further slowing progress.
Smarter Bikes, Smarter Strategies
The conversation around ARAS isn’t merely about technological advancement—it’s about saving lives. With India witnessing one of the highest two-wheeler accident fatality rates in the world, the urgency for scalable, cost-effective ARAS solutions has never been greater. The challenge for the industry is clear: innovation cannot simply mirror ADAS but must be designed specifically for the realities of two-wheeler mobility.
For ARAS to move beyond a futuristic concept and into widespread adoption, all stakeholders—manufacturers, policymakers, and tech innovators must work in concert. The future of two-wheeler safety in India hinges not just on smarter motorcycles, but on smarter strategies for implementation. Because in this case safety isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a necessity.