An extra eye on the road: BMW's collision warning system is coming soon

BMW has developed a front collision warning system that’s due to debut on a production bike “in the near future”.

No prizes for guessing that’s the R1300GS, then. The system is designed to prevent riders running into the back of
vehicles ahead – if, for example, the rider is distracted and hasn’t noticed traffic in front slowing down.

It relies on a forwards-facing radar sensor, just like the one BMW already uses for Active Cruise Control (which adjusts the bike’s speed to maintain a safe distance in traffic) on the R1250RT.

The front collision warning aims to offer additional safety even when ACC isn’t switched on, first by alerting the rider, and slowing the bike if necessary.

So long as you’re in a riding mode with ABS fully active (eg Road, Rain or Dynamic, but not Enduro Pro) and are riding between 30 and 160kph (roughly 20 to 100mph), the Front Collision Warning (FCW) system will be active…