Why Your Car Has 16 Airbags and Your Bike Has a Leather Jacket

I was standing in a motor museum in Coventry with my dad earlier today, admiring a gleaming 1960s Jaguar E-Type, when the conversation turned (as it often does between us) to modern cars. You know, the kind that scream at you if you so much as glance at a stray pigeon or dare to reverse without a backup camera doing half the job. Somewhere between the Jaguar’s wooden dash and the nearby wall of classic motorcycles, we both had the same thought: What about motorbikes and, how did we get here?

More specifically! How did we end up in a world where your average Toyota Yaris has more surveillance and intervention systems than Heathrow Airport, and yet motorcycles, some of which now produce more power than a V8 Mustang, are still allowed to roam the streets with nothing more than a helmet and a good sense of balance?

Cars: Wrapped in Digital Bubble Wrap

Modern cars are, let’s be honest, incredible. They’re fast, comfortable, clean, and safer than ever, but they’re also getting just a little ridiculous. Lane keep assist, fatigue detection, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, pedestrian alerts, 360-degree cameras, pre-collision warnings…it’s less like driving and more like co-piloting a spacecraft designed by a team of overzealous risk analysts.

In South Australia, you legally can’t disable most of these features. Traction control, electronic stability systems, even driver monitoring tech…they’re permanently on, or else you’re off to court. And if you want to drive something fast? You’ll need a U Class licence, a special high-powered vehicle certification (20 minute online cash grab course) designed to stop people doing burnouts in a worked VZ Clubsport or to stop a  ‘20 something’ , social media influencer mowing down children in a school zone because his Lamborghini Hurrican (with 65000kms on the odometre), is just so “sick” (after 6 previous owners) - that he wanted to show off in front of his mates. Because obviously, the solution to dangerous driving is paperwork (multiple choice point and click).

So here we are: wrapped in technology, wrapped in rules, and wrapped in a very real fear that one day your car might refuse to start because you didn’t blink enough.

However we also need to remember that “….the fastest car in the world…(is) a rental” - Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear.

And with that piece of stirling information we must conclude that all cars are dangerous!

Motorbikes: Bring Your Own Safety

And then there are motorcycles.

Let’s be clear; there are safety features. You’ve got ABS, traction control, maybe some electronic suspension or wheelie mitigation if you’re on something fancy. But for the most part, you are the safety system. Your brakes. Your brain. Your leather jacket, if you remembered it.

A modern superbike like the Ducati Panigale V4 puts out more than 200 brake horsepower and weighs less than your average Uber Eats delivery. It’ll do 0–100 km/h in under three seconds. And you can walk into a dealership, sign some paperwork, and ride it home without so much as a “U Class” anything.

Your protection? A helmet (compulsory) and the vague hope that the driver next to you isn’t texting their ex while merging.

Safety Rules vs Safety Theatre

The double standard is blinding. Cars are overregulated, micromanaged, and often frustrating,  not because the tech is bad, but because it treats you like a half-asleep idiot with a death wish. Meanwhile, motorcycles are the Wild West. There’s no government-mandated slow mode, no built-in warning system telling you you’re cornering too hard…just you, the road, and physics.

It’s hard not to feel like we’re approaching the problem backwards. If safety is the issue, why do we regulate the hell out of four wheels but let two wheels go full Mad Max? If individual responsibility is key, then why aren’t car drivers trusted the same way riders are?

Maybe it’s a liability thing. Maybe it’s cultural. Or maybe, just maybe, motorcycles are still allowed to be dangerous because no one expects them not to be. They’ve never pretended otherwise.

Speed, Risk, and the Price Gap

And here’s where things really get weird: performance parity. You can buy a superbike that will outrun a Lamborghini for under $40,000. For $70,000, you’re in hyperbike territory, engineering masterpieces with MotoGP DNA. Try buying a car that performs like that for the same money. Spoiler: you can’t. Not unless it’s stolen.

For the same power, torque, and acceleration, a car will set you back a mortgage. A bike will set you back a modest personal loan and maybe a new pair of gloves.

There’s no legal difference in how these machines are treated. No special tax. No required advanced licensing beyond basic riding qualifications. Just raw performance and freedom; yours for the taking, assuming you can stay on it.

Different Machines, Different Rules

It’s clear that bikes and cars aren’t just different machines, they’re governed by entirely different philosophies. Cars are treated like rolling sanctuaries: safe, isolated, idiot-proof. Motorbikes are seen as thrill machines, governed by Darwin and adrenaline.

Maybe that’s fine. Maybe people who ride bikes accept the risks and get the freedom they deserve. But for the rest of us; the ones stuck arguing with lane assist and being told off by our infotainment system.  It’s hard not to wonder if cars are being designed less for drivers and more for lawyers.

Conclusion: The Great Safety Divide

So where does that leave us? Cars are safer, smarter, and more annoying than ever. Bikes are faster, freer, and still wildly dangerous. The gap is only growing.

At some point, we’ll need to ask what safety really means. Is it about preventing every possible mistake  or is it about knowing the risks and respecting the machine?

Because right now, your car won’t let you change lanes without permission;  but your bike will do 280km/h in a T-shirt.