donhun:
Has there been any real data collected and analyzed to see if the changes in automobile designs are a significant contributing factor to Cage VS Motorcycle crashes? Also has the shifts in design resulted in an increase in physical injuries to the motorcyclists?
I consider any vehicle I can't see over, around, or through a hazard. And there certainly are a lot more of them on the road than there used to be. SUVs, pickups, and vans are all annoyances to be passed at the first opportunity, so I can better see the road ahead. And, given a choice between crashing into a Miata and a Land Crusher, I'll take the sports car every time. But statistically, there doesn't seem to be any increase in motorcyclist deaths due to the changing vehicle population.
This chart shows the distribution of rider fatalities from 1996 to 2004 by other vehicle type. Light trucks--NHTSA's category for SUVs, pickups, vans, and minivans--have increased as percentage of involvement, but only as involvement of passenger cars has dropped. Tauruses and Accords are traded in for Explorers and Odyssesys, the vehicle population shifts, and, inevitably, more motorcycle crashes occur with the light-truck category.
A superior rider uses superior judgment to avoid problems that would demand his superior skill.