Airbags on the outside? Waymo sees cars predicting crashes and softening the impact

One of the benefits of an all-seeing self-driving car is its ability to know in advance when a collision is unavoidable, a new patent from autonomous vehicle firm Waymo suggests. 

"An important component of an autonomous vehicle is the perception system, which allows the vehicle to perceive and interpret its surroundings using cameras, radar, sensors, and other similar devices," notes the patent granted to the Google spinoff Oct 31.