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Google Patents Self-Driving Car That Glues Pedestrians To The Hood In A Crash (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Google just got a patent for a special kind of coating on self-driving cars that could help prevent pedestrian injuries. The company wants to coat autonomous vehicles with a sticky substance so that if they hit a pedestrian, the person would be glued to the car instead of flying off. "[The pedestrian] is not thrown from the vehicle, thereby preventing a secondary impact between the pedestrian and the road surface or other object," says the patent, granted on Tuesday. Google explains that an "adhesive layer" would be placed on the hood, front bumper and front side panels of a car. A thin coating would protect it until an impact occurred. Google is paying Arizona residents $20 per hour to test its self-driving vehicles.
with all the options
Auto safety features inspired by Carmageddon. That's just what we needed.
I wonder if you get a steam achievement for collecting multiple pedestrians?
Self-driving cars are going to be fun after all.
You are welcome on my lawn.
...this is what you get when you legalize recreational marijuana.
to the term "bumper sticker".
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
You're forgetting another important point - with one person stuck to the car, google might recoup some of the research funding by exposing their captive audience (i.e. poor schmuck on the fender) to "relevant ads" (lawyers, health professionals)...