Britain, already the world's leader in video surveillance of its people, will soon be able to automatically track the movements of millions of cars on most of its major roads.

"It will revolutionize policing," said John Dean, the national coordinator of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, or ANPR. "Our aim is to deny criminals the use of the roads."

They should integrate the ticketing system with mobile phones, so that if you run a red light, you immediately get a message chastizing (and fining) you for it. And maybe they could also send a message to all of your AIM buddies, too, letting them know about your dangerous ways.

What's really needed is an in-car augmented reality system that provides the ticketing and accident history for all of the drivers/cars in your immediate vicinity. And if someone's been stopped for suspicious behavior in the recent past, it would alert you to that fact, so you could keep an eye out.

Electronic Eye Grows Wider in Britain