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5 Ways Self-Driving Cars Are Great For Motorcyclists

3K views 26 replies 17 participants last post by  HAP 
#1 ·
I, for one, welcome our new self-driving car overlords. There’s been a lot of hand-wringing over the coming advent of self-driving cars. I think many of the fears are overblown. The move to autonomous vehicles are actually great for those of us who, eat, breathe, and have sweaty dreams about motorcycles.

Less Drunk Driving

I have it on good authority that folks have been drunk driving for centuries. Nothing like crashing your Roman chariot on a night of drinking too much mead after long day working at the Colosseum.

Being able to hop into a driverless Uber, or personal car after a night on the town has great benefits to society at large. Drunk driving would quickly become a thing of the past. Hypothetically, if you’re on your motorbike, and have had a few..beverages…you could be able to summon your autonomous car to come get you, should you own one. This keeps the NIMBYs happy and everyone safe.

Removes People Who Don’t Like Driving

There’s a very good reason Toyota sells so many beige appliance-mobiles. Most folks, truth be told, don’t actually LIKE driving. They do it to get to where they want to go. That’s it. Removing folks who drive as a necessity rather than for actual enjoyment makes things a lot safer for them and for us motorcyclists. Who likes to put effort and passion into things they don’t enjoy? Not me. That’s like me taking a class on cooking broccoli, or learning to neatly fold my boxers into an origami owl. Not gonna happen.

I’ll be glad for the day when those who don’t want to drive, don’t have to. Many cities make driving an absolute need, due to terrible planning, or woefully underfunded public transit (looking at YOU Dallas). In well planned cities, cars are less of a necessity. The dawning of the age of driverless cars or automated public transit options will curb that option even further.

Full article here:
http://www.averagecarguy.com/5-ways-self-driving-cars-are-great-for-motorcyclists/
 
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#2 ·
You mention drunk driving - drugged driving is an issue here in Australia as the next major problem and is overtaking over .05 (our limit) as the contributing factor to road accidents.. :frown2:

I am fine with self driving cars as long as they know that they need to move over when I approach from behind and automatically go into the left lane.
 
#9 ·
As a motorcyclist self-driving cars concern me. I've worked in the software business for almost two decades. Imagine a self-driving car waiting to turn left across an oncoming lane. Trust me; there will be software bugs which will cause the silicon computers to occasionally fail to detect the relatively small motorcyclist following behind the large oncoming truck, just like how biological computers (humans) often fail to.

Whether or not self-driving cars will keep right except to pass is a whole 'nuther debate. I would put it down to the leanings of the product manager in charge of the project. If he/she believes anyone doing 54.9 MPH in a 55 MPH zone while in the far left lane does not need to change lanes to the right to let faster cars by, then he/she will not make sure such a business rule is programmed into the car's computer either. That is not sarcasm. Cynicism yes, but not sarcasm.

I agree passing self-driving cars should be much easier. They won't have an ego which causes them to suddenly speed-up as you're trying to pass.
 
#11 ·
I agree passing self-driving cars should be much easier. They won't have an ego which causes them to suddenly speed-up as you're trying to pass.
no, they'll emergency brake instead, causing mayhem. This will inevitably lead to an overtaking ban which will mean we'll all have to sit behind these stupid things and wait until the one at the front decides it's safe to drive through the pedestrian crossing because there's no human within 2 square miles!

Honestly, they're just going to cause chaos unless all vehicles on the road are autonomous. How many of you will happily ride behind one that's sticking religiously to the speed limit and being totally over-cautious?

One was already ticketed by a cop in California somewhere for causing a nuisance - it created a traffic jam because it was "too scared" that it might put a human at risk.

And kids are going to have great fun deliberately running out in front of them causing them to stop suddenly - tons of fun, then there's cyclists, skateboarders, roller bladers, dogs, old people etc' etc'.

It's going to be absolute hell.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Self driving cars would be doing the speed limit at all times. But that won't cause any traffic problems. (Yeah right) Remember, the driver gets the ticket not the car. Which means all the programming would have to be the same no matter what the car brand is, so that merging and such is possible. And you would have to plot your course precisely before you leave. Yes I know the computer COULD compensate for deviations, but, how are you going to program it to avoid the 200mph jack-wagon hyabusa 2 miles back that is closing fast and you need to be in that lane to turn in 500 ft? Your bike would have to have software that works with the cars also. You would not be passing anyone. Everyone at the same speed. All the time. Oh the joy. I hope i exaggerated enough to make the point. Anyway....although I like ABS and traction control, to a point, I actually learned how to drive. A car. With faults. I lost my master cylinder once on a back road and got the car stopped in time for the stop sign. I wanna see a teenager do something like that today. Yes I have many more examples. I won't talk about the VW with only one wheel able to stop the car. Anyway....the more you take the human factor out of things the more you set up for trouble. People aren't taught the correct way and that's why we have texting drivers and such.
Oh man I better get off the soap box....
 
#17 ·
I have a feeling those who know what's best for us will say "hmm, the only people still getting killed on the roads are those morons on motorcycles. Why do we let them do that, again?"
 
#18 ·
I just bought a new car last week.

Perusing the owner's manual, I saw an option that I am really, really glad that my car does not have. The cruise control (if so-equipped) will match the speed of the car ahead of you, regardless of how fast you may want to go. So if you set it for 70 mph and the guy ahead if you is going 65, your car will slow to 65.

If my car had come with that option I would have taken it back for a refund.
 
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