So, as a cyclist that commutes to work everyday on my bike--are any of these manufacturers making sure that their vehicles don't squish pedestrians, or even worse, people on bikes?
They will, in fact, do a much better job of it than a human driver.
An automated car will detect the obstacle faster, make a better decision on evasive maneuvers (based on a much better understanding of the current conditions), and apply that decision _much_ faster than a human driver could.
I mentioned this elsewhere in the thread, but a modern car processes a collision _very_ quickly. It detects it, decides what to do about it (which airbags to fire, which seatbelt pretensioners to deploy, etc), and implements those safety measures _before the driver is aware the collision has occurred_. Apply that same processing latency to evasive maneuvers and you'll see just how much safer automated cars can be.
EuroNCAP[1] requires increasing levels of automated pedestrian protection -- i.e. autonomous braking or avoidance -- to get a 5-star safety rating starting in about 2015. Because World Health Organization predicts 3% of fatalities in 2030 will be automotive collisions, and over half of those 3% will be pedestrian deaths[2].
They probably do since a collision might damage the car.
And with all the sensors, there must not be a single blind spot left. That means it becomes much safer to ride a bicycle or motorcycle.
