Google has patented a sticky coating for car windshields that would adhere to accidentally struck pedestrians like flypaper, an innovation that could be used in its self-driving cars.
"The adhesive bonds the pedestrian to the vehicle so that the pedestrian remains with the vehicle until it stops and is not thrown from the vehicle," reads the patent.
It's not the first time the concept has been tried, the patent notes. These attempts "include a system built by Jaguar that raises the hood of the car after an impact to provide a softer crumple zone for the unfortunate pedestrian, and another by Volvo that actually deploys airbags out of the bonnet," reports The Verge, which notes that the patent points out that neither development addressed the potential injuries when a pedestrian is thrown from a car.
"The idea that cars should be safe for people other than the ones in them is the next generation of automotive safety," Bryant Walker Smith, an autonomous car expert and Stanford law professor told the San Jose Mercury News. "Manufacturers have gotten remarkably good at protecting the occupants of the vehicle, but there's been much less attention to protecting the people outside. I applaud anybody for thinking, as they should, about people outside of the vehicle."
Smith did point out some potential pitfalls, however.
"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," said the professor. "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."
