Think Flypaper

Google has been awarded a patent for an “adhesive vehicle front end for mitigation of secondary pedestrian impact”, which is a bunch of fancy talk describing Google’s proposed solution to cover the front of the car in a sticky layer in the event the car runs into a pedestrian, so that the pedestrian wouldn’t be thrown into the road. Google isn’t the first to think of ways to protect pedestrians from driverless cars. Certain Jaguar models raise the bonnet several inches at the moment of impact to soften the blow, and some European Volvo models have an air bag on the outside of the car, along the bottom of the windscreen, to protect pedestrians from head injuries.

Speaking of self-driving, two more announcements. Queen Elizabeth II presented the legislative program for the new parliamentary session, referencing the Modern Transport Bill, which encourages investment in driverless cars and drones. That’s one. A new startup has been launched in San Fran with the goal of fitting existing trucks with autonomous software. Otto is the name. That’s two.