Will autonomous vehicles prevent fatal motorcycle accidents?

Aims: This study investigates the potential effectiveness of the safety systems proposed for autonomous vehicles in the mitigation and prevention of fatal motorcycle accidents. Previous research has indicated that over 90% of crashes are the caused or contributed to by human error and some studies propose that autonomous vehicles will reduce the number of crashes by reducing the occurrence of human error.
Methods: A range of qualitative methods were used in this study to analyse the suspected performance of each autonomous vehicle in each of 4 accident scenarios. A structured approach was applied to an initial analysis to highlight the mitigation effect of autonomous vehicle features and also to identify gaps in the technology.
Results: It was found that in all scenarios, many of the influencing factors could be at least mitigated if not prevented by the technologies proposed. Autonomous vehicles provide an opportunity to mitigate the consequences of motorcycle collisions with cars, due to their technologies that detect and respond to hazards regardless of conditions and all around the vehicle, therefore eliminating blind spots. However, there are many questions that require further research to enable an automated vehicle to prevent motorcycle crashes in their entirety.