Run down by a Google car? You could be sticking to the hood
Google awarded patent for an adhesive surface which will stop a struck pedestrian from being thrown from the vehicle and prevent a secondary impact
Google's driverless cars could apparently become human flytraps.
The U.S. search giant has been awarded a patent for an adhesive surface on the hood of the car that would mean pedestrians would stick to it if hit. Without the layer, someone could bounce off the hood and potentially be hit by other ongoing vehicles, or even the same car running them over.
To stop bugs and grit sticking to the hood, the tech giant also said that the sticky surface would be covered by a thicker layer which will break on impact to expose the adhesive surface.
"A protective coating is positioned over the adhesive layer. Upon impact with a pedestrian, the coating is broken exposing the adhesive layer. The adhesive bonds the pedestrian to the vehicle so that the pedestrian remains with the vehicle until it stops, and is not thrown from the vehicle, thereby preventing a secondary impact between the pedestrian and the road surface or other object," the patent said.
Of course, this is all theoretical, and would largely depend on how a person hits the car.