Google Wants To Build Sticky Bodywork To Make Running People Over Safer
Getting hit by a car is - quite obviously - an unpleasant experience, but what makes it even nastier is the whole flying off and hitting the road part of the deal. Or worse, getting dragged under the vehicle that’s just hit you, or being struck by another car. However, Google is hoping to cut out those aspects of road traffic accidents with a special bodywork that could end up being applied to its autonomous cars.
It has just applied for a patent for a material which is protected by an “eggshell-like” layer which would break upon impact with a pedestrian, revealing a sticky surface underneath. Likening the concept to flypaper, Google says the idea of this is that the unlucky man or lady would remain stuck to the bonnet, preventing them from bouncing off and receiving further injury. The material would ‘release’ the subject shortly after, so you don’t end up with a human permanently stuck to your bonnet.
Autonomous cars should be less likely to strike a pedestrian anyway, but regardless, Google thinks the tech is more than worthwhile until self-driving technology is perfected. “There are continued efforts to improve vehicle safety, including the development of autonomous vehicle equipped with accident-avoidance systems that will have the ability to avoid all accidents. However, while such systems are being developed, it must be acknowledged that, on occasion, collisions between a vehicle and a pedestrian still occur,” the company stated.
Whether or not avoiding all accidents is even possible, we’re not sure, but this sticky solution to curtail injuries in the meantime is certainly an interesting one. As to whether or not it’ll be implemented, nothing’s confirmed just yet. Speaking to San Jose Mercury News, a Google spokesperson said: “We hold patents on a variety of ideas…Some of those ideas later mature into real products and services, some don’t.”
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
so hit and runs will now become hit and kidnap? :-)
In other news google is now using autonomous mustangs
This thing doesn’t even have Bonnet on which a person could be attached to. Imagkne yourself as a normally sized person stuck on the front of that…. thing. Some parts of your body would scrape on the road and might get stuck underneath the car while it is still rolling. You’ll eather get sucked underneath the car if the “flypaper”-effect isn’t strong enough or you’ll stay on that friggin’ car and your feet will get under the car, braking your leg or other parts of your body subsequently. I don’t know if I rather get hit by a normal car…
India has had this technology on its trains for years
Hmmmm… Can you stick a crowd to a mustang?
I thought this had to be a joke before I clicked on the article, but actually it doesn’t bode well for autonomous car technology inevitably being rushed out early to maximise market share. In the event of hitting a pedestrian the normal reaction from a person driving a car would be to stop. Presumably if an autonomous car or even a regular one has just run into someone then something isn’t working quite right… so there’s no guarantee the driver, autonomous or not, will try to avoid doing further harm. I suspect this would be more likely with an autonomous system though because we all know how concerned about human safety our future malfunctioning robot overlords will be. So, with this paint technology you end up with a different, arguably worse, situation where the car carries on regardless… only now with an injured person stuck to the bonnet.
They should make a game and see how many birds stick to the car till you get home
I want to get off Google’s wild ride.
I don`t see the point, especially when their DemonBubbles only do 25…..
lol, Demon Bubbles.
So what Google is basically saying is that if you hit pedestrians nothing will happen to them and they will just stick to the bonnet? I’m gonna jump infront of a car because who wouldn’t want to go 100km on a freeway on the outside of a car?!