Google patent: Glue would stick pedestrian to self-driving car after collision

[KamaAina]

Not The Onion!

In a world with self-driving cars, Google envisions the inevitable: accidents involving pedestrians.

But the firm is exploring an unusual solution. Think flypaper.

The company received a patent Tuesday describing a way to reduce pedestrian injuries in an accident with a robotic vehicle. The impact of the crash, Google suggests, would expose a coating that glues the person to the front of the car.

"The adhesive layer may be a very sticky material and operate in a manner similar to flypaper, or double-sided duct tape," the patent said.

Wouldn't that work for any car?

[Hoyt]

1. Think I'd rather bounce off.

[Rex]

2. So let us say the person gets stuck to the car, yet their leg is trapped under the front wheel.

Since accidents don't happen the way we want them to, I bet this idea works up until the first person to get ripped apart.

[immoderate]

3. Why?

--imm

[Humanist_Activist]

14. I could think of several reasons, note these are speculation, but seem reasonable...

they need to be tested first before being rolled out into commercial self-driving cars.

But, first, prevents people from being thrown onto pavement/street, other obstacles, that cause further injury. Also might prevent them from being pulled under and run over by those cars and trucks large enough for this to happen.

The self-driving car could be programmed to stop and alert authorities automatically when such an incident occurs. I would say it could even drive the victim to the hospital itself, but I don't know if that would be ideal due to head/neck injuries and whether the car would be able to properly immobilize them for transport.

[joeybee12]

4. And then the driver is blinded because of the object on his car, spins out

of control, hits a wall, bursts into flames. Did anyone think this through?

[KamaAina]

5. Well, it is a self-driving car

[joeybee12]

6. Didn't see that...

How can they be sure the tape will hold the entire person, and not just part depending on where he/she was hit...I can see a person half-flapping along down the road.

[Katashi_itto]

7. This could go bad I tell you! "The Cars That Ate Paris" trailer

Killer Driverless Car scenes from the movie Crash (1977)

Killdozer

The Devil is behind this!!!
THE CAR (1977, trailer) James Brolin

[Takket]

8. has crash test data been done to show that this causes less injuries?

If not... I don't get why they would do this.

[KamaAina]

9. I haven't been to Mountain View lately

so I don't know if they've put crash test dummies up on the streets.

[bluesbassman]

17. They're all over the place. Easy to spot.

They're the ones walking around with their eyes glued to an iPhone.

[ret5hd]

10. The immediate goal is not to decrease injuries...

The immediate goal is to get that patent filed so that if it does happen to decrease injuries Google has the patent on it.

They might or might not put any money into finding out if it actually works. They just don't want to pay anyone else for it if it does.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. A link gives the reasoning:

Today, when a car runs into a pedestrian, it often carries the person along until the driver brakes, throwing the victim from the vehicle, possibly leading to further injury as they hit the road or some other hard surface, or get hit by another car, the patent said. But that doesn't have to happen.
...
"If you had a pedestrian stuck on a car that then crashed into something else, that could be worse than if the pedestrian was thrown to the side or thrown over the car. It could also be better. It's very dependent on the chaos of the situation," Smith said. "The history of progress is replacing one set of problems with another set of problems and just really hoping that your new set of problems in aggregate is less than your original problem."

http://www.mercurynews.com/drive/ci_29905115/google-patent-protects-pedestrians-from-self-driving-cars

[Humanist_Activist]

12. Makes sense, and with larger cars/trucks, people sometimes get pulled under, this...

"sticky hood" could theoratically prevent that. Though a LOT of safety testing would have to be done.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

13. How do you...

...wash it?

[Codeine]

15. The sticky stuff would be under a frangible coating, presumably.

Almost like a super-thin ablative armor that, when struck, shatters and falls away, exposing the adhesive. How well that would work in practice I can't even begin to speculate.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

18. So, the second person to get hit....

...would stick to the car.

The first person would just have the coating on them.

And they expect us to take this seriously?

[0rganism]

16. so we're counting on a thick layer of insects and bird crap to protect pedestrians?

interesting idea, not convinced though

[dembotoz]

19. and if the car is on fire?

[beevul]

20. Yeah, burning to death while stuck to fly paper sounds great.

Maybe if they turn GTMO into a theme park, this could be one of the attractions.

Sometimes the stupid burns...