] Computerised lamp posts look like being the basis of the
] biggest data network ever, as the world's traffic
] monitors set about controlling cars with wireless.

This is a longer article than most on the register, and there's a fair bit of info in it. This is the kind of network we've been wanting for years, allowing wireless internet damn near everywhere. And the concept of integrating wireless into cars, allowing inter-vehicle communication is something i've been dreaming of for at least 5 years. Coupled with a GPS, this makes automatic accident and traffic avoidance pretty trivial, allowing us to use for cars the same kinds of anti-congestion algorithms we use for packets on a network, re-routing around trouble spots.

Some negatives to go with those blue sky positives, and we'll probly see these first -- real time, all the time, monitoring of your vehicle parameters... no more speeding, no more creeping through stop signs, or squeezing on the yellow. Boring, monotonous, transporation, utilitarian only. One could biew this as a boon to public transporation, since cars will be less fun to drive.

As the article says, eventually we'll get to cars that drive themselves, automatically finding the fastest and safest route from point-to-point, but there's a lot of technical and social hurdles there.

thoughts?

The Register