External Airbag Designed to Protect Pedestrians 253
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.
Ohhh! (Score:4, Funny)
Cowcatchers (Score:5, Funny)
yeah.... (Score:2, Funny)
Car analogy (Score:4, Funny)
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.
Farmers Markets (Score:3, Funny)
I guess this means I can start going back to farmers markets that don't already have protection from being massacred by elderly drivers.
Re:Ok ? (Score:4, Funny)
Just put a cowcatcher on SUVs.
Re:Cowcatchers (Score:5, Funny)
Dedicated gamers want to know... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Great, no more worries about my car... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:3, Funny)
Since an airbag isn't any of those things
Sir, I applaud your engineering genius. I must build a reactive armor airbag: the car, upon being assaulted by a pedestrian, cushions the pedestrian's impact...just as it throws him 30 feet into the air.
Speed Racer Mach 5 Rotating Saws . . . (Score:4, Funny)
. . . 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.
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:5, Funny)
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?!
Dads... (Score:5, Funny)
Lock up your daughters! A pillow on the hood of the car? As if they needed any MORE encouragement...
Re:Is this really a good idea? (Score:4, Funny)
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!
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re:Is this really a good idea? (Score:3, Funny)
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?
Agreed. Why not let evolution take care of this? By making cars more deadly, eventually humans will evolve to be impervious to cars crashing into them (and by extension, impervious to crashing while riding in cars). The problem will solve itself!
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:4, Funny)
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!
Zombies? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Ok ? (Score:2, Funny)
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
I'd be interested in hearing what the force threshold for such a device is. Right now I see this as yet another expensive thing to replace when you accidentally bump the front of your car while moving your trash can, a football hitting the front of your car [totalprosports.com], etc.
Realistically, I think that if they set it high enough so that an unintentional bump won't set it off, if you, as a pedestrian, get hit by said car, you're pretty much done for anyway.
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:3, Funny)
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.
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:3, Funny)
The world is a big place. I just thought everybody played with Thermite when they were kids.
Re:Not to worry (Score:3, Funny)
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:5, Funny)
I think after you hit the first one you are supposed to stop. Hell you could even try slowing down before you hit him.
Re:...Not originally designed... (Score:5, Funny)
What? This is Slashdot, news for nerds. You need to stay inside more often.
Re:Ok ? (Score:5, Funny)
Points! (Score:3, Funny)
Wait, remind me again: which is worth more points, hitting clowns or mimes? This is gonna be fun!
Re:Ok ? (Score:1, Funny)
SUV's are, in fact, safer. Simple physics. You think I'm gonna take government tests over what I -know- to be true?
The easiest way to make a care safer is to add 100 lbs. Period. End of story. SUV's are inherently safer because they weigh more and will therefore fare better in collisions. As my father used to say: tie goes to the truck.
One of the hidden costs of pushing society into cheaper, smaller, lighter cars will be an increased loss of life, like it or not.
You insensitive clod! (Score:2, Funny)
I don't have even a single internal airbag!