In this story from Gizmag, they have a new idea on making sure pedestrians stick around after having been struck by a car.
Where would we be without out of the box thinkers, right? But aren’t they telling us that autonomous cars will have far quicker reactions and be able to avoid crashes with pedestrians that human drivers might not be fast enough to avoid?
Actually I’m having a deja vu moment. I’m sure I read about this a few years ago, maybe that’s when they originally applied for the patent. I remember thinking about the additional risks of the pedestrian stuck to the front of a car as a it subsequently rolls, crashes into a tree or into a river. I can see many cases where I would rather be thrown off.
I wonder if the Google researchers did any serious research into what happens to both the car and the pedestrian in those sorts of accidents?
Kudos to Google all the same for giving their staff the opportunity and time to innovate. I’m sure they will now be having discussions with 3M. I’m sure it will find unexpected value somewhere, perhaps as a spray to hold criminals in place when they try to rob a store. Stick them to a wall until help arrives.
What do you think? Any ideas on how you might use Gloogle?