Voice was watching some videos of car crashes taken by a safety agency. He noticed that in frontal collisions the tire is almost always the thing that protrudes into the passenger cabin. If the tire simply disappeared in the case of an accident there would be slightly less buffer material but a lot less intrusion.

This hubcap would receive a signal from the airbag trigger. If detected it would instantly extend a series of steel probes into the tire, shredding it. The advanced version is a wheel that releases the connection to the axle and uses a rocket to push itself away from the vehicle.
-- Voice, Feb 23 2020

If you use explosive studs into the hub, and the right design, the blast will jettison the wheel assembly with considerable force.

You've got to get the firing impulse across the rotating junction between the axle and the hub, but that's not rocket science.

Oh, actually, sorry, yes it is rocket science - to a certain extent. But it's a known and well-proven technology.

This idea has tremendous potential to cause massive damage and serious injury even if it works properly, and the flash of the bolts could easily ignite spilt fuel; the effect would be devastating.

So that's all fine. [+]
-- 8th of 7, Feb 23 2020


So instead of tyre (rubber, moderately pliable) coming in to meet you, we have pieces of tyre (conveniently released and centrifugally propelled), steel spikes AND the (now bare) steel wheel coming in to meet you...
-- neutrinos_shadow, Feb 24 2020


"What could possibly go wrong ?"
-- 8th of 7, Feb 24 2020


Howabout all cars are propelled by yuuge mutated snails. Admittedly the lettuce could get expensive when the Saudis corner the salad market.

The life you save may be your own.

Or someone else's.

Or a robot's.

There's a ''slugging it out '' pun in there somewhere.
-- not_morrison_rm, Feb 24 2020


Yes, but you already hunted it down, clubbed it to death, and hung it on the wall as a trophy.
-- 8th of 7, Feb 24 2020



random, halfbakery