Autonomous vehicles and motorcycles

I do not believe 'we' have anything to worry about. I had an opportunity to 'see' what the sensors see on an advanced concept self driving vehicle. If anyone has seen the image from the old XBox vision system it is a pretty good example but with much higher resolution. Given the time it takes to haul a car or truck down from highway speeds these sensors need to be able to spot, identify, track and predict the motion of the object, and then react, the vision system has to be able to identify objects (including small animals and their trajectories) from two football fields away. Motorcyclists have nothing to worry about!

In addition to the self driving stuff there is also a push to 'connect' vehicles for advanced warning. If what they are planning works at least as intended, it will be like AIS for marine traffic; your vehicle will know what is going on at intersections or around curves before you see it. At worst 'we' will need to possibly buy some sort of transponder (a little box like a GPS unit or something, it may even eventually get built into your GPS like a marine chart plotter) to join in on the party so your bike can send/receive on the new info system. Not so scary....

...and before anyone says 'oh, they will be able to tell I sped and give me a ticket' remember that 'they' can almost do that anywhere now, especially on toll roads where you clock in and out.

If an autonomous car is caught speeding who gets the ticket: the hapless occupant, the owner, the programmer, or what? They surely won't let many of them on the roads until they figure out how to secure the revenue stream, would they?

Click to expand...

"Speeding" is a non-issue, really. Just who gets the BILL for a fatal accident? Talk about revenue stream.

Motorcyclists have nothing to worry about!

Click to expand...

Hasn't been a motorcyclist long, and won't become one, with that philosophy.

akbeemer said:

Resistance is futile.......

But, Airhead parts will still be available.

Click to expand...

Good one !!!!

lmo1131 said:

Hasn't been a motorcyclist long, and won't become one, with that philosophy.

Click to expand...

How long have you been riding around autonomous vehicles then. Enlighten us with your engineering prowess.

Autonomous cars closer than you think

I am an insurance agent working for one of the big companies. I can tell you that CEO's in Auto insurance believe this is coming fast and they are afraid. (You don't need to buy liability coverage if you are not the driver.)

Also, Budweiser has 90,000 pound trucks on the highway self driving now. (Supervised by a human)

From what I see, I am more afraid of a texting human than any self driving car.

dceggert said:

How long have you been riding around autonomous vehicles then. Enlighten us with your engineering prowess.

Click to expand...

This could be a good serious discussion. There are engineers at places like Microsoft that design this type of game equipment and have ridden for many years. But, they aren't on here.

Dan, you aren't spouting BS.

All this technology is still in its relative infancy. IMO it won't be long before autonomous vehicles will be an absolute net plus for motorcycles sharing road space with them, especially when all are 'aware' of each other.

PGlaves said:

If an autonomous car is caught speeding who gets the ticket: the hapless occupant, the owner, the programmer, or what? They surely won't let many of them on the roads until they figure out how to secure the revenue stream, would they?

Click to expand...

Interesting question. Currently the test cars running around California are notable for their adherence to the speed limits. If the majority of cars become autonomous, and they adhere to the traffic laws, presumably we won't need as many traffic cops. A good analogy was Colorado's legalization of pot, apparently enough LEOs were reassigned to other duties and/or laid off that the state found it worth mentioning in their first year audit of the pot laws effects.

sagerat said:

My prediction: motorcycles will be restricted to roads without automated driving infrastructure and/or the insurance costs will make driving a non-autonomous vehicle, whether two, three, or four wheel, simply prohibitive.

Click to expand...

I'd expect that non-autonomous vehicles would be required to purchase electronic devices that communicate position, speed etc. to surrounding vehicles. I'd wouldn't even bitch about buying these transponders for my bikes if it significantly reduced the likelihood of being hit by another vehicle.

A few of these "test cars" have been involved in wrecks.
I haven't researched or dug up the articles to see if they involved "speed", but it clearly shows they are still fallible. If I recall, one recent event had non-driving supervision in the vehicle.

Anyname said:

I'd expect that non-autonomous vehicles would be required to purchase electronic devices that communicate position, speed etc. to surrounding vehicles. I'd wouldn't even bitch about buying these transponders for my bikes if it significantly reduced the likelihood of being hit by another vehicle.

Click to expand...

I hope this never becomes the case...shouldn't be required to comply to survive existing in new technology. Would I have to install a device on my bicycle?

I cannot wait until motorcycles have this technology so I can send it on a ride w/out me...what fun

Motorcyclists have nothing to worry about!

Click to expand...

Hasn't been a motorcyclist long, and won't become one, with that philosophy.

Click to expand...

Engineering prowess has nothing to do with this; you miss the underlying point. Any motorcyclist that doesn't "worry" about their immediate surroundings, all the time, won't survive long.

Anyname said:

I'd expect that non-autonomous vehicles would be required to purchase electronic devices that communicate position, speed etc. to surrounding vehicles. I'd wouldn't even bitch about buying these transponders for my bikes if it significantly reduced the likelihood of being hit by another vehicle.

Click to expand...

And "surrounding vehicles" would certainly include LEOs with ticket books at hand. Numerous LEOs will be put out of work as the ticket-wielding revenue-generation process is automated. Your fine will be automatically deducted from your paycheck or SS check, like this 60-second segment--starting at 08:50.

But we will all be soooo much safer...

Best,
DG

GTRider said:

And "surrounding vehicles" would certainly include LEOs with ticket books at hand. Numerous LEOs will be put out of work as the ticket-wielding revenue-generation process is automated. Your fine will be automatically deducted from your paycheck or SS check, like this 60-second segment--starting at 08:50.

But we will all be soooo much safer...

Best,
DG

Click to expand...

Video capture ticketing is already standard practice in suburban areas around Wash DC.

I think someone wrote a manifesto about all this tech. taking over our lives.

The article from Cycle World seems to apply to this thread. It looks like BMW has been working on this issue:

https://www.cycleworld.com/do-motor...pJobID=1162317685&spReportId=MTE2MjMxNzY4NQS2

The more we rely on electronic intervention to "make us safe," the greater our risk will become.

These systems malfunction from time to time or outright fail.

Without the preservation of precision driving/riding skills, your fate is sealed.

I don't oppose progress. But addictive faith in technology is fleeting.

When we teach Winter Driving Courses here at Road America, we go thru braking exercises during the morning. While participants enjoy lunch, we quietly pull the ABS fuse. Then repeat the drills.

They come away with skills - not reliance on 'systems.'

From the "idea" bank
OM

junkjohn said:

I think someone wrote a manifesto about all this tech. taking over our lives.

Click to expand...

No worries here...I can't figure out how to use it .