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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.
The summary indicates that it works well when applied to a vehicle not originally designed for pedestrian protection. They say this in conjunction with research indicating where a pedestrian's head will hit.
I'm sorry, but what cars are designed with pedestrian protection in mind in scenarios that would involve striking a pedestrian such that his head would hit my windshield?
Also, if I'm protecting the pedestrian, do I lose my entire field of view, and end up running down other pedestrians?
Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
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.
I say we mount spikes on the grills of our vehicles, so pedestrians will know to get the hell out of our way! Like most attempts to coddle the clueless, won't widespread adoption of this just result in even more careless pedestrians? Besides which, when I point my vehicle at someone and accelerate, I wanna make sure they die, not get thrown safely clear and live to sue me. Besides which, some people would never buy a car with this feature.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Just put a cowcatcher on SUVs.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Note that this story is coming out of the UK, not the US. The majority of the car-driving world drives smaller vehicles.
I mean, if I got hit by a car, I might appreciate that they'd paid extra for it, but since I'm not likely to hit myself with my car (unless my wife tries to run me down), why would I pay extra?
Unless this is mandated, it won't catch on.
The problem is, impacts are not predictable.
The "most likely spot" to hit, is actually depending on the following factors:
- Speed of collision
- Braking/coasting/accelerating (braking typically causes a vehicle's nose to dip, accelerating causes it to rise)
- Height of the pedestrian in relation to the height of the vehicle's front bumper/grille.
- Angle of collision (pedestrian motion will be different if hit head-on, as opposed to someone trying to whip around a right-hand turn and blindsiding someone who's crossing properly; angle also changes if you're not at a right-angle intersection)
The other problem is, does this truly cushion the blow, taking the energy into the crashbag and causing the pedestrian to be more likely to remain on the stopped vehicle, or is it more elastic, imparting acceleration back into the poor pedestrian in time for them to slide off the car - now accelerated to a good 15-20mph or higher - and then hit their head on the cement?
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!
Lock up your daughters! A pillow on the hood of the car? As if they needed any MORE encouragement...
This is seriously awesome. I applaud the good work these researchers are doing. However, this line caught my eye:
The system uses radar and infrared technology to "pre-detect" a collision and inflates quickly enough to cushion the impact, said Roger Hardy of the university's Cranfield Impact Centre.
It seems possible that such a sensor could be duped with false input on the proper frequencies, causing the bag to deploy. This would likely be a malicious and expensive prank, as well as obstructing the drivers view. Of course, it would require technical expertise, putting it out of reach of most pranksters.
What I really want is an iron spike in the center of the steering wheel. Then the people who should be driving instead of [pick the distraction] would actually pay attention to the task at hand.
[John]
Shit better not happen!
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.
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.