Originally posted by: jpeyton
Are motorcycles highway compatible?
I'd counter you with the fact that by their very nature, you can't compare this vehicle with a motorcycle. Motorcycles aren't required to have 5 or 10 mph bumpers, door beams, airbags, shoulder belts, crumple zones, or any of the other safety features that help to make a passenger vehicle so heavy, yet are required to make it "highway compatible".
I believe what the OP was asking is whether this thing would be capable of being put on the roads in the US, where strict safety requirements would require all of the things I listed above, if it's to be classified as a passenger vehicle. Otherwise, it'd be easy as pie for the automotive companies to meet the new CAFE 35mpg requirements that will be required, simply by building a vehicle that lacks any heavy components not required to make it move, thus sacrificing safety for fuel economy.
Let's face it, if motorcycles were required to have safety equipment, you wouldn't see any on the road, would you?