Pinging this group because they offered insights relative to those blaming bikers generally (I’m just assuming that, like all news articles, we’re getting a biased fraction of the story).
I’ve long suspected that in a dilemma, autonomous cars will be programmed to kill motorcyclists because lib programmers, social norms, or both, will declare the biker (pick one or several):
- An ‘idiot’ on a ‘crotch rocket’
- Knowing the risk he took
- “I knew a...” (whatever anecdotal scary thing happened)
- By being on a ‘donor’cycle, inherently less important than anything else the car might hit.
See https://www.technologyreview.com/s/542626/why-self-driving-cars-must-be-programmed-to-kill/ for how this will play out; when it’s not just a crash but a fatality, the larger part of people will all but cheer.
For the record: I do ride when the white slippery stuff isn’t covering the road; am clearly recognizable as a can of (popular lemon-lime carbonated beverage) by bright green bike, hi-viz helmet, and 3M reflective stripes; and ride sanely — and still have drivers, often with one or both hands full of food/smokes/phones/whatever, commit attempted murder against me several times weekly.
Sounds like you are one of those extremely few safe and sane motorcycle drivers.
The reality is that this is what I see out on the road all the time both on the highway and on city streets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVbiR_fQ38s