Will Self-Driving Cars Make Motorcycle Riders Safer?
At The Very Least, Self-Driving Cars Should Be A Boon For Motorcycle Companies
Anyone who rides motorcycles has heard a variation of this phrase countless times, usually from a parent or spouse or both: “I know you’ll try to be safe—but what about other drivers?”
They’re right to be worried. The math doesn’t favor motorcyclists: a motorcycle weighs about 400 pounds (depending on the model) while the average American car weighs about 10 times that. Even though motorcycles are more nimble and able to stop in much shorter distances than cars, accidents happen. And when motorcycle and car meet, the result usually isn’t good.
Motorcycle deaths are also on the upswing, while deaths in cars (a.k.a. “passenger-vehicle occupant deaths” in industry parlance) are down. Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Governors Highway Safety Association, attribute several reasons to this.
- More people are riding motorcycles (There are about 800,000 registered motorcycles in America today, compared with half that 20 years ago).
- Cars have become safer because of crumple zones, electronic stability, and other technologies that help keep drivers safe/alert.
Also a factor in these deaths, though not necessarily the rise, is the fact that many motorcyclists don’t wear helmets. Only 19 states and the District of Columbia have mandatory helmet laws. And many car and Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) drivers simply don’t see motorcyclists, hence the birth of “Share the Road” programs on highways across the country.
“Drivers of other motor vehicles that collide with motorcycles are often at fault in these crashes, violating the motorcyclist’s right of way. The most common collision type is when the other motor vehicle is turning left while the motorcyclist is going straight, passing, or overtaking other vehicles. The reason most often offered for these collisions is that motorcycles present a smaller visual target and are not seen by the striking motorists. Motorcyclists are rightfully concerned about incursions into their path,” wrote the Governors Highway Safety Association.
While the data don’t explicitly show this, distracted driving (read: texting) is a problem. Every time I ride, I see cars straying into other lanes and can generally guess why. I twist the throttle to get by, and nod in disgust as the driver stares into his or her phone.
Motorcyclists And Their Families Should Cheer The Rise Of Self-Driving Cars
When we talk about self-driving cars, the focus generally falls into two categories: safety and economics. (Fun is notably absent, which I’ll get to later.)
Stories abound about the innovative companies and people behind the self-driving car revolution, and the potential for them to earn millions, more likely billions, if they can build a safe alternative to today’s human-driven cars.
And of course people talk about the increase economic activity these futuristic vehicles will provide— no traffic! you can work from your car! you can sleep on your way to work!
All of this success hinges on safety, and companies like Google, Toyota, and others are doing herculean amounts of research to make sure self-driving cars are safe. The government, obviously, sees safety as a priority.
At a recent government hearing on self-driving cars, there was a lot of airing of automotive laundry on the promise and pitfalls of this technology. Some spoke with hope about the potential this technology holds to reduce accidents, while skepticism went from the prosaic to the extreme: James Niles, from Orbit City Labs, said that “autonomous vehicles could be used as weapons — like drones on wheels,” according to a story on the hearing by The Verge.
So how much safer can self-driving cars make us? There’s no way to tell, yet. A 2013 report from the Eno Center for Transportation said that 93 percent of the roughly 5.5 million crashes annually involve human error. Of the roughly 32,000 fatal crashes annually in America, 21 percent involve distracted driving.
Any dent in these numbers is good, but let’s be clear that technology can’t solve all human error — these vehicles and their technology are being made by humans, after all.
Auto and tech companies, insurance and law firms, and the government are grappling with the ethical questions that self-driving cars spark. The ethics are fascinating. If a deer and kid walk into a street, which one will the car avoid? You might assume the child, but what if two kids walk in the street?
Self-Driving Cars Should Be A Boon For The Motorcycle Industry
Go back to when you first drove a car by yourself. If it makes you smile, if it makes you think of your tingling nerves, if makes you think of the meaning of freedom, then you know what it’s like to get on a motorcycle.
All those emotions are in play every time riders throw their leg over a motorcycle. It’s a visceral experience, and one I think more people will pine for once self-driving cars become the norm.
I have little evidence to back this up, other than a poll from the gear-head blog Jalopnik, which asks people why they don’t ride a motorcycle. Seven of the top 10 reasons have to do with safety.
I do have fears about self-driving cars, and maybe you do too, but not about safety. I have enough faith in the ingenuity of man to know that self-driving cars will be safe.
What concerns me is the fun factor. Will self-driving cars make the driving experience, well, not an experience at all? I know the first few times in a self-driving car will be exciting, but what happens once that newness factor wears off?
I can see lines of cars moving efficiently down a highway with people inside talking and laughing, texting or typing, or reading or sleeping, like they’re in mobile work spaces or living rooms.
Driving is supposed to be fun. If our cars drive themselves, where will people turn for fun? When self-driving cars make our roads safer, I bet people will turn to motorcycles.
