What if you could help save pedestrians from serious injury by sticking a flypaper-like substance on the front of your car; and, rather than bouncing off your car and getting hurt, the pedestrian would stick to the front of it like a bug trapped in a spider’s web? Would you put something like that on your car? Do you think it would work?
Google thinks it would work. Indeed, the technology giant recent secured a patent for a strange new technology that it is considering putting on its self-driving cars. The technology involves a highly sticky adhesive substance encapsulated beneath an eggshell-like material. When the car strikes a pedestrian, the eggshell breaks and the pedestrian is instantly attached to the front of the car. That way, as the car comes to a quick stop, the pedestrian is not propelled forward into anything like another car or the ground. Furthermore, the pedestrian will not hit the vehicle’s windshield and suffer more serious injuries. Of course, this technology will not completely prevent injuries to the pedestrian, but perhaps it could turn a fatal car crash into a non-fatal one, and the pedestrian will benefit from less severe injuries.
Volvo cars also feature a pedestrian-friendly tech that activates airbags outside the car to minimize pedestrian injuries. However, even with these technologies pedestrians will still get hurt and pedestrians will still — in many situations — have the right of way and not be faulted in a serious crash. Therefore, Virginia Beach pedestrians who find themselves injured after a car collision may have the ability to seek financial compensation from the automobile driver who hit them.
Source: ZDNet, “Google’s driverless cars may use human flypaper in road accidents,” Charlie Osborn, May 19, 2016