Autonomous vehicle technology is advancing rapidly across the United States. Companies are investing billions into self-driving systems designed to reduce human error, improve roadway safety, and reshape how people move from place to place.
But for motorcycle riders, a critical question is rising alongside that investment:
Do autonomous vehicles reliably recognize motorcycles?
On a recent episode of Let’s Get Personal, Attorney Chris DiBella spoke with Traci Beaurivage, President of the New Hampshire Motorcyclists’ Rights Organization (NHMRO), about what the motorcycle advocacy community is seeing, and why the answer to that question carries life-or-death consequences.
Listen to the full episode of Let’s Get Personal for the complete conversation with Traci Beaurivage.
Why Motorcycle Detection Is a Safety Issue, Not a Technical Footnote
Motorcyclists are among the most vulnerable people on any road. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcyclists are approximately 24 times more likely to die in a traffic crash per vehicle mile traveled than occupants of passenger vehicles.
That vulnerability does not disappear when the vehicle making decisions is driven by software rather than a person. In some ways, it may even be compounded.
Unlike passenger vehicles, motorcycles present a smaller visual profile, move differently through traffic, can be more easily obscured by other objects, and require distinct detection modeling for the sensors and cameras that autonomous systems depend on. If those systems are not specifically designed and tested to account for motorcycles, the consequences for riders can be catastrophic.
What the Research Is Already Showing
The concerns riders are raising are not speculative. Existing research and investigations have already flagged serious questions about how autonomous and advanced driver assistance systems interact with motorcycles and the numbers are beginning to tell a troubling story.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has documented that some crash avoidance technologies have historically struggled to detect motorcycles compared to larger vehicles. But perhaps the most striking detail to emerge from advocacy conversations, including Traci Beaurivage’s discussion on Let’s Get Personal, is this: “some of these systems are successfully detecting bicyclists while still failing to recognize motorcycles.”
That is not a minor calibration issue. A bicycle is smaller, slower, and presents a narrower profile than a motorcycle. If a system can identify a cyclist but not a rider on a motorcycle, that gap points to something more fundamental than sensor range or camera resolution. It raises serious questions about how these systems were trained, what data sets were used, and whether motorcycles were ever meaningfully prioritized in the development process.
As Beaurivage noted, though it is not conclusive the data is beginning to reflect what riders in the advocacy community have suspected for some time. Incidents involving autonomous and partially autonomous systems failing to respond appropriately to motorcycles are not isolated anomalies. They are part of a pattern that demands attention before these systems expand further onto public roads.
Rider advocacy organizations across the country are calling for more comprehensive testing requirements and stronger regulatory oversight. The data is there. The question is whether regulators and manufacturers will act on it.
For those who want to follow this research directly:
- IIHS Research on Motorcycle Safety and Crash Avoidance Technology
- NHTSA Automated Vehicles Safety Research
- NHTSA Motorcycle Safety Data
Innovation Must Include Every Roadway User
Most motorcycle advocacy organizations are not opposed to autonomous technology. The argument is not against progress. It is about who gets included in the definition of progress.
If a system can see a bicycle but not a motorcycle, that is not a technological limitation but a choice made during design and riders are the ones living with the consequences.
As autonomous systems expand into daily transportation, safety testing must account for the full range of conditions riders face: motorcycle visibility, lane positioning, nighttime riding, adverse weather, highway merging, and the unpredictable nature of urban traffic.
Testing that focuses primarily on passenger vehicles and larger road users does not reflect the reality of shared roads. And when those gaps reach the public road before they are addressed, it is riders who bear the risk.
The Legal and Regulatory Stakes
At DiBella Law Injury and Accident Lawyers, we represent people who are injured when systems designed to protect them fail. As autonomous vehicle technology moves from testing environments onto public roads, the legal and regulatory frameworks governing those systems must keep pace.
When a self-driving system fails to detect a motorcyclist and a crash results, questions of liability, manufacturer responsibility, and regulatory compliance become immediate and complex. These are not distant hypotheticals. They are the kinds of cases that will increasingly reach attorneys, courts, and legislatures as autonomous vehicles become more common.
Riders deserve to be seen. Ensuring that happens is not just a matter of technology. It is a matter of accountability.
