Human Body Flinger

This invention promised to stop people from getting run over by trucks by violently flinging them out of the way. I don't know why it never caught on. From Popular Science, Feb 1931:

Front Roller on Truck Prevents Accidents
Designed to prevent pedestrians from being run over, a British motor truck has a large roller before its front wheels, which rotates in the opposite direction to the wheels. If a person is knocked down the tires cannot touch him, since the roller's reverse rotation throws him away from the vehicle. It thus has time to stop before doing him serious injury.

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Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 06, 2009
Category: Inventions

Comments

This probably never caught on because of that whole 'pedestrian has the right of way' garbage. This would be a great deterrent to jaywalking.

Posted by Matt in Florida on 01/06/09 at 09:02 AM

I'd prefer a device that causes cars to stall for 30 minutes if they get too close to pedestrians. People shouldn't be thrown out of the ways, the cars should.

Posted by Brent in trepid on 01/06/09 at 09:12 AM

Brent if we applied your device over here we could just turn the streets into parking lots and be done with it. Priests walking down the middle of a dark street at night is normal. Remember, we're on the metric system and drive to the centimeter not the foot. 😉

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/06/09 at 09:40 AM

Why not have one of those cow-catcher dealies like on a train? Plus, then you could pretend you're in a Mad Max movie. Granted, this may not reduce the number of peddestrian injuries, per se, but it would have an impact on them.

Vehicles with these anti-pedestrian devices woudl certainly make an impression on passers-by.

Posted by kingmonkey in Athens, Ontario on 01/06/09 at 10:02 AM

With the condition of the streets in New Orleans, this thing wouldn't make it one block before it either bottomed out on the unlevel streets or got stuck in a pot hole.

Posted by Madd Maxx on 01/06/09 at 10:25 AM

In Los Angeles, you'd just end up with a subculture of teens who create a new "sport" to throw themselves at oncoming vehicles to see who can get thrown the farthest. Then their parents sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto.

Posted by BikerPuppy on 01/06/09 at 11:50 AM

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