With all their safety devices, it's likely self-driving cars will reduce accident figures. And less human error and inattention should reduce it further.

At the point when they become affordable to most, the only human drivers left will be the ones who choose to drive. Those passionate about driving and thus more attentive. Reducing the likeliness of SMIDSY, making it safer for motorcyclists.

Lane splitting could be easier, too. With self-driving cars sensing what's around them with an efficiency most human drivers lack. Imagine cars could communicate with each other. They'd be able to send a message to the car in front, which would send a message to the car in front of that. 'A motorcycle is coming past', it would signal. The cars would move over to allow room as you pass by with a feeling of self-importance. Superb!

No worries about the cars freezing in their tracks when a bike comes past. They're already programmed to handle such situations. But would we even need to filter anymore? A future with self-driving cars promises one with smoother traffic flow. Roads where all the cars work in unison. A synchronised harmony. And a safe and beautiful environment for bikers.

Look further ahead, though, and things are almost certain to change. Give it 30, 40, or even 50 years, and motorcycling might be looking a bit bleak.

Why? Imagine this: Roads become more and more dominated by self-driving cars. The decrease in road accidents due to less human error is now most evident. What does the government do when almost all the cars on the road are self-driving? Will they ban non-self-driving cars on public roads? How long will it be before motorcycles follow suit?

Riders already get a pretty bad rep and some might say unequal treatment to drivers. It's unlikely the government will have a keen interest in saving the motorcycling industry.

Banned from public roads, riders might take to the tracks. Much the same as how horseriding is now a hobbyist activity instead of the method of transport it used to be. More tracks would appear to accommodate for this increasingly popular recreation. Maybe there would be fewer bikes manufactured. Maybe prices would go up...

Nobody actually knows. But hopefully motorcycling will live on for a long time yet.

What are your thoughts about the future of motorcycling in a somewhat and or fully autonomous car environment? Share them with us at [email protected].

26/09/16 - I'd expect a driverless car to be more predictable and aware than the texting, phoning, munching, drinking, makeupping, jabbering human drivers as the computer will be focussing totally on the task in hand, driving!

          28/09/16 - well said and true

26/09/16 - even if they build these, you do not have to buy one

26/09/16 - This is one driver that won't be using one.

26/09/16 - I've read your article with interest. I've considered the future for motorcycling in amongst the probably automated future and it looks bleak. What I have considered though is the possibility and implications of the self riding motorcycle! Here's my article on my blog... www.bikesandtravels.com.

26/09/16 - Hate to say it but I reckon in a hundred years there won't be any powered two wheelers except in museums and maybe racing. . ..wearing Michelin suits..

26/09/16 - NO pretty much the same was said about the infernal engine invention but we still have push bikes and horses being used as transport ...it will be very amusing?? when the nav systems are hacked on this daft idea and they act like cheese skittles with terrified occupants inside looking horrified and screaming like it's a Blackpool big dipper ride!

26/09/16 - It would be many years before driven cars are off the road completely and even then, there will still be classic cars having to be driven. So maybe 75+ years from now before the roads are totally driver free. There will still be pedestrians. So I don't see how it will affect motorcycling. Could even have the result of increasing motorcycle use, as drivers want the pleasure of driving, rather than being driven.

26/09/16 - Shouldn't that have a 'Fisher Price' logo on it..???

26/09/16 - The way things are going the younger generation cannot afford the price of a full power motorcycle license, I've been in the motorcycle trade since 1971 and there is a sharp decline in young motorcyclists. You only have to visit a bike rally to see that most folks are in their later years of biking. It won't be self-drive cars that cause the downfall of motorcycles but time for the bikers around now to fall off the perch and governments with their anti-motorcycle attitudes discouraging youngsters with multiple tests and training at sky high prices.

          27/09/16 - Same in Ireland, it's crazy. I've got a few young friends that wanted bikes but are going for cars because they are so much cheaper to get on the road. And nobody wants to be dangerously overtaken continuously because they're on a little 125. Mostly it's the money though, they've just been priced out as a valid option for most people.

          27/09/16 - To be honest I think the government should treat new car drivers in the same way in having a power limit. With a bike 9 times out of 10 it's your own neck on the line, but with a car you could do god knows how much damage and kill a lot more people. I've never owned a car, I'm 61 now and been riding since 1971, one other sad thing I've noticed over the years is the total lack of respect for bikers by some car drivers to the point of being dangerous, but with a lack of police traffic patrols bad driving goes unoticed, what's that, they now use cameras, it was pointing the other way mate.

26/09/16 - Plenty of kids up my local park on motorbikes and scooters - and some have passed their tests and bought big bikes. Why won't self-driving tech be adapted to bikes anyway - I can ride mine with hands off the bars!

26/09/16 - Can't see racing one of these round Brands