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As It Happens

Google's sticky hood patent for self-driving car is not as crazy as you think

Google has patented a sticky car hood that could reduce injury to pedestrians when they’re struck by a self-driving car. As It Happens speaks with Bryant Walker Smith — a self-driving car expert from the University of South Carolina.
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An illustration from Google's new patent. (United States Patent and Trademark Office)
As It Happens5:38Google patents sticky self-driving car to reduce pedestrian injury

A pedestrian is hit by a self-driving car. But, that person doesn't go flying into the air — as you might expect. Instead, that pedestrian is sticking to the hood of the car. Yes, the car hood is sticky.

Earlier this week, Google patented a sticky car hood that could reduce injury to pedestrians after they're hit by a self-driving car. The patent says it's a way to "mitigate the secondary impact a pedestrian may experience" after a collision — like being thrown into oncoming traffic.

An illustrations from Google's patent. (United States Patent and Trademark Office)

Bryant Walker Smith says the usefulness of this technology is all situational. For example, it's probably not too beneficial if the sticky car hood leaves the pedestrian more exposed to another collision.

Bryant Walker Smith is a law professor at the University of South Carolina. (University of South Carolina website)

"This is the difficulty with any safety improvement. There are some instances where it might be better. There are clearly some instances where it might be worse," Walker Smith tells As it Happens guest host Helen Mann. He's a law professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in technology — specifically self-driving cars.

The patent describes the adhesive as an "eggshell-like material."

"So, not every bug or stick becomes affixed to the hood," explains Walker Smith. "Only in an abrasive impact would that coating break — revealing the adhesive that ultimately keeps the pedestrian stuck."   
In a statement to As it Happens, a spokesperson from Google said, "We hold patents on a variety of ideas — some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents."

A self-driving car traverses a parking lot at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California on January 8, 2015. (Noah Berger/AFP/Getty Images)

Walker Smith guesses we won't be seeing sticky cars on the roads anytime soon. However, he's hopeful this patent could inspire people to come up with other creative ideas.

"Maybe we won't see the invention in this form. But maybe, someone else will say this might be a really good idea to prevent deer from going through the windshield. Someone else may say … maybe it's a bad idea to stick someone on the hood of the car, but maybe we should keep them stuck on the top of the car so they're out of harm's way ... These are just ways that inventions could take new lives. And, years from now, you may trace some brilliant new idea to some insight in this patent."

For more on this story, take a listen to our full interview with Bryant Walker Smith.

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