As bigger, heavier cars risk fatal damage even at low speeds, carmakers are placing more emphasis than ever before on pedestrian safety. Volkswagen has been working on a range of innovative solutions lately, and the German automaker recently patented a new technology to reduce the damage taken by pedestrians if hit by a car.
Filed with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), the invention is for a system that would prematurely damage the windshield before a pedestrian impacts it, reducing the force of the impact on the pedestrian’s head.
Broken Glass Is Softer Than Solid Glass
Automotive windshields are solid items that can typically withstand a fair bit of abuse. But in the event of a pedestrian collision, this could result in severe trauma. To circumvent this, Volkswagen proposes a mechanism that could detect when a pedestrian is likely to impact the windshield, thereafter initiating a pyrotechnic breakage device that would crack the windshield to make the impact less severe.
A second element of this invention is the windshield itself being split into two segments, meaning only one segment would need to be broken (and thus replaced) rather than the entire pane of glass. Behind each of these segments, an interior airbag would then deploy, helping to absorb some of the impact to the pedestrian, reduce their trauma, and possibly speed up recovery time as a result.
A Last Resort Only When Impact Avoidance Is Impossible
Of course, you don’t need a fancy windshield system like this if you don’t hit any pedestrians, but this invention is a last resort only when all other avenues have been exhausted. Volkswagen specifically details the invention’s use on autonomous vehicles or a car that is being operated in a semi-autonomous fashion.
Should a pedestrian be detected, the car’s most immediate process would be to emergency brake and attempt to evade the impact. Only in the event that a collision is unavoidable would the windshield breakage device be called into use, mitigating the extent of the trauma in a worst-case scenario.
