|
Reply to Grant-53 opening statement
Congratulations, you have neatly summarised most of the key issues surrounding enclosed motorcycles and you obviously recognise the huge benefits that could result from a widespread uptake of single person vehicles.
Putting aside the FE benefits, and thinking about the safety aspects,I would like to add a couple of points.
While "open" designs with extensive bodywork (as Craig Vetter) do offer greater protection to a rider in most potential accident situations, as has been pointed out, there are situations when detachment from the motorcycle may be beneficial. Personally, I believe the greatest danger comes from those objects with the largest relative speed differential to the rider, and rarely is that his/her machine.
A well designed "enclosed" machine offers far superior protection to any existing motorcycle designs. What constitutes "well designed" will be different for different people, but the essential elements are - a robust exterior shell protecting the driver from intrusion and direct contact with stationary objects, a restraint system which controls the driver's involuntary movements, and a series of energy absorbtion measures.
One other factor not to be overlooked is the comfort that is afforded by a fully enclosed structure. The absence of wind blast, and the ability to maintain a suitable temperature will reduce fatigue levels and whilst being comfortable and warm may not add to safety, it will not detract from it.
Safety has active and passive dimensions, and detractors may deliberately misrepresent size and visibility issues to confuse the discussion. In general (ie without deliberate camoflage) larger objects are more visible than smaller ones, motorcycles with bodywork are bigger than those without, even heavily recumbent designs have height equivalent to std saloon cars and velomobiles are not a fair comparison in this debate.
Sidewind stability may be the only achilles heel, but I believe that we, as engineers, can overcome the percieved problems once we make and test enough designs, just as we overcame aerodynamic instability in cars. Lets look to the future and be positive!
|