Why are motorcycles legal?
I would posit that the danger motorcycles posed was recognized very early, but the cultural willingness to have the government protect people whether they wanted protection or not didn't exist until after they were grandfathered.
Good point. Also vehicle death rates generally were very high — https://www.businessinsider.com/traffic-fatalities-historical-trend-us-2016-4, looks like 10x modern levels — so maybe motorcycles weren't an outlier at the time.
I would posit that the danger motorcycles posed was recognized very early, but the cultural willingness to have the government protect people whether they wanted protection or not didn't exist until after they were grandfathered.
Good point. Also vehicle death rates generally were very high — https://www.businessinsider.com/traffic-fatalities-historical-trend-us-2016-4, looks like 10x modern levels — so maybe motorcycles weren't an outlier at the time.