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External Airbag Designed to Protect Pedestrians
Thanks to researchers at Cranfield University, you don't have to feel bad when you plow into a group of pedestrians who are crossing the street too slowly. They have designed an external airbag that mounts to your hood at the base of the windshield. Research shows that this is the area where a pedestrian's head is most likely to hit in an accident. "Test results indicate that the system works extremely well. When fitted to a demonstrator vehicle not originally designed with pedestrian protection in mind, the results were well inside all current legal criteria for pedestrian protection currently in force in Europe," Roger Hardy of the university's Cranfield Impact Centre said.
I really want to bounce off a car with this!
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
What we really need are cowcatchers, like on trains, so that the pedestrians don't get stuck under the wheels and jam them. :-)
Bruce Perens.
In the ongoing spirit of computer/car comparisons, I suggest we install an airbag on computers to deploy when inept users approach in the hope of repelling them.
Actually, maybe I'll just put one of these on the entrance to my cubicle to keep the salesmen away.
Just put a cowcatcher on SUVs.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
he might die permanently Yeah, I hate it when they just die temporarily... damn zombies!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
. . . button "C" on the cartoon Speed Racer's original Mach 5 activated rotating saws at the front, that were able to clear the way of *anything*.
We might need to adjust the regulations for pedestrian protection for this to be offered as standard equipment.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Hey man, let's see you design an air bag that isn't actually a spinning axe wheel of death or a mountain lion and see if you think it's that easy. And if you do, then let me know what I'm doing wrong?!
The enemies of Democracy are
Lock up your daughters! A pillow on the hood of the car? As if they needed any MORE encouragement...
Like most attempts to coddle the clueless, won't widespread adoption of this just result in even more careless pedestrians?
Yeah, those damn pedestrians keep walking on that sidewalk I use for my shortcuts!
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Actually, it pales in comparison to the #1 advance for "pedestrian protection", DON'T F-ING HIT THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Sorry, but the idea that ricocheting a pedestrian from my hood into something else (presumably something without an airbag) seems absurd.
And I find your suggestion to not plow into pedestrians equally absurd. How else am I going to rack up combo bonus points?
Also, obviously the goal is to have as many cars as possible with these air bags on them, so the pedestrian won't just bounce off my car into another air-bagless car and die, but instead will be bounced again and again from car to car until harmlessly tossed onto the grass, where they will doubtless jump up and shout in child-like glee "Again! Again!" And I'll get like 10,000 points for a 40-bounce combo. Looks like a win-win scenario to me. Why Luddites like you are against using technology to make life more awesome, I'll never know.
The enemies of Democracy are
Don't they have parks in your city? The drivers would probably start passing the pedestrian along, like a game of vehicular hackey sack, towards the city park. Bonus points if they land in the fountain!
The enemies of Democracy are
In any scary movie when the good guys get on the car and then try to mow down the bad guys with the car they have some measure of success. With this external airbag I'm not sure this is going to work very well... We must provide more anti-zombie (and anti-raptor) features in cars. I mean... give me a car advertised as "20% more likely to survive a zombie attack" and I'm right there.
Actually, it pales in comparison to the #1 advance for "pedestrian protection", DON'T F-ING HIT THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Are you kidding, that little old lady with the walker was practically begging for it.
I knew safety standards had been increased, but I never realized armchairs had to be crash tested.
"Also, if I'm protecting the pedestrian, do I lose my entire field of view, and end up running down other pedestrians?"
I think after you hit the first one you are supposed to stop. Hell you could even try slowing down before you hit him.
What? This is Slashdot, news for nerds. You need to stay inside more often.
Sir how dare you. Everyday I worry about my unintelligent 16 year old daughter driving. I owed it to myself to make sure that she has the biggest vehicle that I can afford so that she can stay safe on the road. We all have feelings sir. And you sir are a bigot. And probably a republican too since you like to tell people how to live. Communist.