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Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

What is the ANCAP rating for these? Cute they might be but they look to be quite flimsy in construction. Maybe that's one of the reasons why they are so slow, not just to avoid the risks of high speed impact but also so that they don't have to be tested right alongside the output of the rest of the automobile industry. That gives google time to perfect the software in a real world traffic without all the costs and competition with regular car manufacturers.

It is reminiscent of the Aixam line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aixam) of microcars.

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As a low-speed vehicle capped at 25mph, the car is exempt from most federal regulation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle#United_State...

"In many cases, doors may be optional, crash protection from other vehicles is partially met compared to other non motorized transport such as bicycles because of the use of seat belts. In 2011, a Time magazine article concluded that the lack of passenger safety protection made most LSVs unfit for city driving, despite their excellent maneuverability.[6]"

I suppose rationally I should consider these safer than bicycles or motorcycles, and therefore feel comforted, but without crash protection I would fear being side-swiped from drunk drivers. I hope they are building these to regular-car standards, despite not being required to.

I doubt they have done the ANCAP/NCAP ratings (given the recent story about how lots of AUDI models are not NCAP rated it could be a while).

There is a tubular 'roll cage' type of thing going on with it, reminiscent of rally cars and kit cars. Given that rally cars have roll cages and normal cars do not, I for one look on a roll cage as a good thing, even if the rest of the box is prototype bits of plastic.

Part of a safety rating is the effect a car has on pedestrians. People can get killed by hood ornaments even at a relatively low speed. To date very few cars have been specifically designed with pedestrian safety in mind. One of the few was the Austin Metro and that was a long time ago. It does look as if the Google people have thought of pedestrian safety - it is a big part of the self driving concept and it also appears to be part of the implementation. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the final implementation of the driver-less car is in a whole new level of safety compared to regular cars with the difference being like the difference between 'tame' and 'wild' animals.

It has a tubular cage like that because space frames are about the easiest way to build the primary structure for a one-off or low production vehicle.

It's not a particularly safe way to build a car for passengers without helmets. There's no padding on the cage either. Every race series that requires cages also requires helmets and padding.

Pretty sure while they may look flimsy, these care are anything but. I believe there are several micro-cars on sale now that have a very safe inner structures as well as advanced safety features despite looking "cute". Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_%28automobile%29#Safety

It looks conceptually similar to the Smart Fourtwo in size and design, and that car managed to score 4/5 on the ANCAP. So I don't see any reason why this car shouldn't manage the same.

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