For all its pure-electric acceleration and range and its ability to shapeshift, the Hypersport motorcycle shown off last week at CES by Vancouver, Canada-based Damon Motorcycles matters for just one thing: It’s the first chopper swathed in active safety systems.

These systems don’t take control, not even in anticipation of a crash, as they do in many advanced driver assistance systems in cars. They leave a motorcyclist fully in command while offering the benefit of an extra pair of eyes.

Why drape high tech “rubber padding” over the motorcycle world? Because that’s where the danger is: Motorcyclists are 27 times more likely to die in a crash than are passengers in cars.