Riderless on the storm

The rise and rise of the driverless car and riderless motorcycle

• Riderless

Well Wemoto News has been reporting the advance of the driverless car for really some time now.
The Driverless car is going into overdrive. It has always just been a matter of time once the technology was perfected and it seems it’s pretty much there – roll on the inexorable advance of the Johnny Cab, whether we want it or not it’s coming.

Driverless/riderless technology has crept forward incrementally, starting with permission being granted for test drives of the driverless car on the road and now that seems almost normal.  Well with the advance of the driverless car comes the obvious follow-on the riderless, self balancing motorcycle.  Now the California state government has been asked for permission to test riderless motorbikes and driverless trucks on public roads in the future as well as cars... (hang on a minute wasn’t Arnie governor of California, didn’t he go in a Johnny cab in Total Recall – I think so!)

But is it really so obvious? It behoves us to ask who motorcyclists actually are and why they ride?  Wemoto news did a story way back about some research which had shown that motorcyclists predominantly had the NS or ‘novelty seeking’ gene – check out our earlier article for this Gene Genie.  Basically most motorcyclists had the gene and it gave a  ‘tendency for impulsive, risk-taking and exploratory behaviour’.  Many motoryclists also said that their motorcycle ‘defined who they were’ and was an extension of themselves.
How then does this square with a riderless motorcycle?

What is it that is appealing about riding a motorcycle?  To wheel out all the usual suspects in idea form... motorcycles are cheaper to run, consume less petrol, can beat the traffic for commuters by filtering through traffic jams thus easing congestion, are easier to park ...etc etc... yes that is all true and jolly marvellous but is that the sum of why people ride motorcycles? I think not.
‘It’s a biblical experience – rider and motorcycle becoming one’
...that’s what one of our our erstwhile despatch rider long time resident office motorcyclists said when asked that question.  Open road, fusion of man and machine, ‘poop poop’ as Mr Toad would have said (although he was admittedly talking about cars but he was having the same feelings).  The risk taking is part of it, all the rapid split second decisions which are necessary to keep you safe, the necessity to stay frosty at all times which keeps your brain alert and alive in every sense, the skill involved in piloting a leaning fast machine and the ensuing satisfaction when this is achieved. The freedom, the rogue element of being a motorcyclist out alone, free range...I could go on...  

How then will any of these features still be present on a self driving, self balancing, super safe, sensor arrayed motorcycle if it does arrive?  Well – I raise for discussion here - they won’t, it will be an anodyne ride, dare I say bland?
When driverless motorbikes fully evolve, it is logical to assume that they will be designed similarly to the driverless Prius and Lexus already in existence which, in prototype, have no steering wheels or pedals, sensors which can scan the length of two football fields around the vehicle for hazards, stop start buttons and a capped top speed of 40 kph. In other words they will be steering themselves entirely, no human input necessary. Mmm sounds really fun.


It is coming and we need to ask ourselves are our vehicles just a means of getting from A to B safely and slowly? Is this all a good thing for humanity, does it mean we will all be safer and happier and less stressed? Or are we rushing headlong towards a self driven/riderless Wall-E future where we drift about helplessly while our machines service us? Is this what we want? Can we do anything about it if we don’t?
What do you think? Your input would be very welcome on this subject email us at [email protected] if you have an opinion.