REAL LIFE NEWS: GOOGLE’S STICKY CARS COULD PREVENT FATAL INJURIES TO PEDESTRIANS
by Hazed
An intriguing idea from Google which could help cut down on pedestrian injury. The company has filed a patent for an adhesive coating which, when added to the front of cars, would make anyone hit by the car stick to it rather than being thrown into the air or under the wheels. It would be a kind of human flypaper!
Google is obviously keen to improve safety for their driverless cars, which use smart technology to stay in the right lane and avoid obstacles. Sensors, networking and intelligent mapping are all employed to make the car as free from human input as possible. But despite all this, accidents are going to happen because human behaviour cannot be predicted.
The patent designs show that if the car hits a person, a protective layer on the hood, front bumper and side panels breaks apart to expose a sticky material which glues the person to the car instead of hurling them skywards. See pictures from the patent application at the source link below.
It’s an interesting idea, but I can see a number of flaws. What happens if, having hit the pedestrian, the car ploughs into a wall? The person could get badly squished.
Or what happens if two cars hit each other head on. Will they end up stuck together and unable to disengage?
Worst of all, suppose the car fails to stop after it strikes the pedestrian, and just drives off with the person glued to the front. That would constitute kidnapping, surely.
Source: http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-plans-to-stick-you-to-driverless-cars-in-accidents/
