A pedestrian will never actually get into the "hard parts" of a car even on an old car. But the "soft" internal bodywork that holds the radiator, headlights an

A pedestrian will never actually get into the "hard parts" of a car even on an old car. But the "soft" internal bodywork that holds the radiator, headlights and front sheet-metal are more than enough to cause bad injuries. You're exactly correct that all that empty plastic in the top front of modern cars and crossovers is there to protect pedestrians (hood designs have been revised to facilitate this as well).