Maybe air bags on the bumper? Maybe its just me but it seems like there has been an uptick in pedestrians not checking for traffic at all when they cross a road. Seems like university students especially just walk right out in the road oblivious to any cars coming. Seemed to happen in Minnesota after new pedestrian friendly laws were passed.
Food For Thought
I Just Wanted To Add The Comment That Even With Pedestrian Detection, We Are At That Point Where Computers Are Starting To Utilize Adaptive (Artificial Intelligence) Technology.
Hard To Believe That 2001: A Space Odyssey Predicted This Would Happen Way Back In 1968!
But, it may be no accident that even Pedestrian Recognition Systems could already be making exceptions for certain pedestrians. Could it be that so far they have excepted salesmen (and lawyers and politicians) ?
CSA
@Bing I’ve read that they are actually testing pedestrian bumper airbags. I wonder who PAYS to replace the bag?
@common sense answer
Could it be that so far they have excepted salesmen (and lawyers and politicians) ?
we couldn’t be that fortunate, could we??
Or car makers could just bring back hood ornaments…those make it so much easier to line up pedestrians. 
Marnet – really not funny
@VOLVO V70 Really? It’s an old, old joke. Standard joke 50 years ago was that '57 Chevy’s had two hood ornaments so drivers could line up two at once. If I am truly out of line here, then I apologize. And if I do owe everyone an apology, then, please, everyone else chime in and call me out on this. I am certainly not advocating running down pedestrians nor was were any of the many people I heard voice this old joke.
Truth is, we’ve gotten to the point that computers are overriding our decisions, just as indicated in HAL’s response to Dave, and to me that’s a step too far. That bothers me. We’re seeing it in ABS, stability control, and numerous other actions of the car’s computer taking control over from the driver.
The solution to me is to allow the driver to ultimately decide whether to allow the computer to take over. But our all-knowing regulators are mandating the exact opposite.
I know this is largely a philosophical issue, one of exactly how much control should be assumed by the car’s computers and how much should be retained by the driver. I don’t think there is one Correct answer. There’s such a wide variety of experiences, comfort with technology, belief systems, and stories that disagreement is to be expected. I’m uncomfortable giving up too much control to computers, but I’ve been driving without an accident since 1967 and, by my nature, consider technology as a tool and not a master. IMHO technology should be used to accomplish a task, not to displace the driver’s control. There are others who would prefer to just give control of the vehicle completely up to the computers and sit in the back seat. And there are many who are in between.
I found your comment funny and knew immediately that you weren’t suggesting to target pedestrians. I got a chuckle of of it.
I too was joking about running over certain segments of society, but I figured it was obvious.
CSA
I always stop in parking lots and at crosswalks to let people walk across. I’ll always smile and wave them by, so they know they’re safe. Often, they’ll indicate thanks and begin to trot. I usually tell them “there’s no need to hurry, I haven’t run over anybody all week!”. It always causes them to chuckle.
I always stop in parking lots and at crosswalks to let people walk across.In NH it's law. In other states it's not.
Where our kids played soccer at the parking lot was across the street from the fields. We’ve had many close calls and a couple years ago one kid was hit…but not seriously. It’s a pet peeve of mine. The cross walks are clearly marked…it’s state law…and there are signs warning you to stop…but cars still ignore the law and are usually traveling 10-15mph OVER the speed limit as they pass. There should be hefty fine for that…First offense - $500. Second offense - $2000 and loss of license for 6 months.
Here’s my brother’s Packard cormorant on the hood (now known as “slice 'n dice”).
;-]
Oooh, thats a nice car. Looks original except for maybe the paint.
If the assumption is made that most of the passengers on an airliner would be in favor of autonomous cars, I wonder what the reaction of those passengers would be if told by the flight attendant during their lifejacket spiel a few minutes after takeoff that pilots have been deemed by the carrier to no longer be necessary and there are now 2 empty seats on the flight deck.
I wonder if the confidence level would remain the same or if chaos would rule with some guy who has a couple of hours in a Cessna 150 trying to save them all by attempting to kick the flight deck door in…
As to hood ornaments those are out of style. Laser targeting of a pedestrian would be more precise and tied in with the electric power steering and drive by wire throttle there’s no way someone could escape no matter how fast they try to juke out of the way…
Like I said, I like my pilots gray and preferably ones that have been shot at before. I don’t mind young trainees riding along and getting their hours but I like at least one guy that made it through a war or two.
The other thing I like is a doctor or two on board. I’ve been on two cross Atlantic flights now where a doctor was needed in the middle of the ocean. Not much you can do except keep going or turn back. So give me an old pilot and a doctor. I can get my own sandwich and coffee thank you.
Bing, the overwhelming majority of current airline pilots were not trained by the military. I read an article recently in an aviation industry journal talking about that very issue. The last period to produce any significant volume of pilots was Viet Nam, and many of the airline pilots now weren’t even born when Viet Nam ended 40 years ago. 43 if you consider the end to have been when the armistice was signed in '73 rather than when Saigon was evacuated in '75. I personally consider the end to have been the bombing of Hanoi in December '72, but that’s only because I participated in that. With so much military flying now being done by drones, in another 20 years there’ll be almost no pilots being produced by the military.
I don't mind young trainees riding along and getting their hours but I like at least one guy that made it through a war or two.
There are many universities around the country where you can get a degree in Avionics. Upon graduation you’ll have your commercial pilots license. And you’ll have a LOT more flying time then someone going to their local flight school to obtain a license.
@Marnet I have long since forgotten the name of the game but back in the 70s there was an arcade game that involved running down pedestrians. A bar where I used to hang out had one of them and it was a hoot to play.
There was a steering wheel and an accelerator pedal. There were a number of pedestrians scrambling all over the screen and the object was to run over as many as possible in the allotted time.
Whenever a pedestrian was run down there was a thump, scream, and a little cross would pop up where the pedestrian used to be while the points total went a little higher…
The potential victims could change direction on a dime so it wasn’t as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
Somewhat crass I suppose but I thought it was both fun and funny… 
I considered the war ended when Nixon canceled our activation orders sometime before '75. In preparation for activation they kept showing us films of our sister unit getting the crap beat out of them and then it was going to be our turn. Oh the good ole days.
Not to totally go off track though but I do believe we will at some point regret the day we ended the draft. I’m told the majority of the military now comes from just five states and has developed into a force of its own, divorced of a common national interest. Gotta think its dangerous in the long run even though we were not the most gung ho soldiers there ever was.
43 if you consider the end to have been when the armistice was signed in '73
Definitely wasn’t over then…because that’s when I was there.