Japan's "Cosmo Power Co." Markets a Natural Disaster Escape Pod

Something of interest popped up in the news for me recently. A Japanese company has started selling escape pods that could protect people from natural disasters.

They are large yellow pods made from fiberglass and they have a hatch and a window. They purportedly hold up to four adults, however if sold in America I assume that hatch would have to be a bit wider, heh.

My view on it is that they seem like a great idea and could really save lives if people had them. Although, I wonder what the ramifications might be for the company in the next natural disaster if people use them and something were to go wrong? In America it would be lawsuits galore but the Japanese are in my opinion much more forgiving. They tend to take responsibility for their own misfortunes whereas Americans seem to look for the nearest scapegoat whenever possible.

VideoExample scenario, tidal wave comes and due to late notice the pod can't get moved outdoors but the family hops in while it is still indoors. Flooding starts and pod is wedged against ceiling with people inside, you can figure out the ending here.

In the above scenario the next of kin would probably sue (in America). However, lawsuits seem to be fairly out of the ordinary in Japan. This isn't to say the company won't see issues, I think they could and they should definitely take the proper precautions when selling devices that "save lives." I mean if the claim on this package is false or could even have a remote possibility of failure there could be dire consequences here.

Would I get one? They run about $3900, which is chump change when it comes to saving one's family. Our possibilities of surviving with it would likely be exponentially increased. However, there are risks involved, the fact that you lose control of what you can do to stop certain things, but in a natural disaster your control may already be lost. Conclusion, yeah I think if I wandered into Costco and saw one I would pick it up and take my chances inside of the big yellow tennis ball over fending for myself in the wild.

I do wish this company success since they are providing a great service for an inexpensive price, but I definitely hope they have iron clad precautions and agreements in place for the sale of their product.