Google has not been in the car-making industry for very long, and it is not even a guarantee that it will make the cars instead of simply providing car technology. However, the company is already taking steps to address potential problems with its self-driving vehicles, including patenting a "Pedestrian Flypaper" technology.
An accepted part of having cars in the world is that accidents are going to happen eventually, and a lot of these accidents include pedestrians getting hit by cars. Even when cruising at moderate speeds, damages can still be severe and can actually be caused more by hitting the concrete or other objects after bouncing off the car.
As such, Google has thought of a way to keep the pedestrians on the hood of its cars once a collision happens, thus avoiding another collision against the ground. The tech giant has already filed a patent for such a technology, and it was already granted.
Of course, having a car which has an outer adhesive surface can be expected to involve unpleasant passengers such as bugs or garbage. As such, Google is planning to implement a thin outer layer on top of the adhesive so that the sticky part of the car won't be exposed until needed. This outer layer will easily crumble once the car hits a pedestrian, exposing the adhesive and keeping the person in place until the car stops.
Noting that the goal here is to simply minimize the damage, there are also other risks involved when the pedestrian is kept on the hood of the car until it stops. Bryant Walker Smith, who is a professor at the Stanford School of Law and is also an autonomous car expert, spoke to Mercury News about it.
"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," Smith said before saying that he does applaud Google's efforts at keeping people safe.
