Event

SAFER Thursday Lunch seminar – Quantifying Alcohol Effects on Rider Stability Using a Novel Micromobility Simulator

We are happy to welcome Marco Dozza, Alexander Rasch, Ali Mohammadi - Chalmers University of Technology as presenters. This seminar is hosted by Jonas Bärgman from Chalmers University of Technology.

Abstract:

Alcohol intoxication is a major contributing factor to road crashes and appears to play an even greater role in micromobility incidents involving e-scooters and e-bikes. Despite this growing concern, effective countermeasures for detecting and preventing intoxicated riding remain limited. This study investigates how alcohol affects rider stability and control using a novel laboratory-based micromobility simulator.

We developed an experimental platform combining an instrumented e-scooter mounted on a treadmill with a virtual environment implemented in Unreal Engine. The setup integrates multiple sensing technologies, including motion capture, inertial measurement units (IMUs), and eye tracking, alongside breath alcohol measurements. Twenty-one participants completed controlled riding tasks—cruising, lane centering, and obstacle avoidance—at two speeds (6 and 20 km/h) under three intoxication levels (0.00%, 0.05%, and 0.08% BAC).

Preliminary results indicate that alcohol impairment significantly affects riding behavior and stability across tasks. Importantly, these effects are detectable using multiple sensor modalities, suggesting the feasibility of identifying intoxication through rider behavior and physiological signals.

These findings support the development of intelligent systems capable of real-time intoxication detection in micromobility contexts. Future work will focus on improving classification accuracy by combining sensor data and assessing the potential for real-world deployment of such technologies to enhance road safety.

Practical Information

SAFER Thursday lunch seminars are held both at the SAFER office, Chalmers Campus Lindholmen, building Kuggen, Lindholmsplatsen 1, floor 1 or online (Teams).

• In-person attendance: Lunch will be provided at the SAFER office, Chalmers Campus Lindholmen, starting at 11:30 AM. The seminar will then be held in a hybrid format from 12:00 to 12:45 PM. Registration is required for lunch. Please register for lunch by 12:00 PM on the Tuesday before the seminar.
• Online attendance: No registration is needed. Simply join via the Microsoft Teams link sent to all SAFER partners ahead of the event. The seminar is held in a hybrid format from 12:00 to 12:45 PM.

Questions?: Get in touch with our office manager Sophia Guerra Ekesand: ekesand@chalmers.se

This event is open to all SAFER partners. Welcome!