Listen... The Roads Could Someday be Speaking to Your Vehicle
by Eric Leech, New York, NY 
on 11.16.08
Photo by Hamed Saber
At least they could be, if a few high tech companies get their way when it comes to an idea they are working on that will enable vehicles to monitor the roads as they drive over them. These vehicle reports would then be relayed to the proper highway committees, road crews, police units, and ambulance drivers to let them know if there is a pothole that needs fixed, severe weather danger or accident to avoid, or even a pancaked squirrel that needs attention by the highway roadkill unit.
How could this be useful?
Well, it would help to serve the efficiency of the road crews and hopefully allow problem areas on the road to be fixed just that much quicker, and every little bump, swerve, and shutter reducers fuel economy just a little, by increasing fiction on your vehicles wheels. Aerodynamic tires do little good when faced with a damaged or uneven road.
Another way it would help us, is the system will also monitor poor driving conditions and relay warnings of ice, fog, and snow to drivers in advance so that they will not be caught by surprise. It will also rely such information to snow plows of a potentially dangerous area that needs immediate attention. Increased safety will not only save lives, but also reduce accidents that decreased road efficiency by causing the standard rubber-necking, stop-and-go, and bumper-to-bumper traffic that causes nearly anyone's fuel economy to plummet, besides perhaps a few regenerative braking hybrid drivers out there.
How could this be bad?
You can probably already see where the unpopularity of such a system might come in... personal privacy. Many people are very sensitive when it comes to the government sticking their nose in their daily personal affairs, or appearing to be watching them, keeping tabs. They fear having that watchful eye on them while in the office, in their own home, and yes, even in their personal vehicle.
To make this plan work, current legislation would need to be changed somewhat to allow for a little more government. What we want to know from you, is would changing the legal legislation to allow these units into the structure of our roads bring benefit for future drivers, or will it open the door for government to invade in our privacy more than they already do? We're not talking conspiracy theory here, but rather just plain and simple too much government...
What do you think... good or bad idea?
More on government vs. transportation
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Government Gone Green!
Active Transportation For America Report
5 U.S. Local & State Government Officials Putting the Environment First
Source:
The New York Times: When the Roads Talk, Your Car Can Listen (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/automobiles/autospecial2/30sense.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin)
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Interesting post for a Carhugger blog but surely a Treehugger blog should be more interested in finding ways to reduce the ecological footprint of automobiles rather than slavishly treating them and their infrastructure as if they should be the very centre of our transportation system till the end of time? We know for a fact that automobiles, and not only because of their petroleum-based emissions, are one of the great banes of a healthy environment for the future of our descendants.
If you could turn it off if you wanted, I'd be all for it.
I think it's a great idea. I am sure some people would be worried about privacy, but I think if no personally identifiable information was sent, it would be alright. It would be even better if the software running this "smart roads" system was open source, allowing anyone to peek inside to regulate and improve the features of the system.
I've said before that roads should also be "tagged" for GPS, Google Maps, etc with info like speed limits.
Something like this, though, providing real-time reports would be great, wouldn't it?
As for privacy, I've given up believing our lives are private.
Another way it could be bad, is if too many people call in roadkill alot of scavenger birds could be out of lunch (alot of vultures here in Ohio rely on roadkill meals as more and more people use up land).
I'm as interested in new tech progress as much as the next gal, but there definitely need to be safegaurds. For example, people should have the choice in if their car has the ability to communicate with the road and what sort of things the road's allowed to "see and talk about"...and this is something that should be as avidly monitered by citizen watchdog groups as possible.
Also: yeah. Only local governments should be involved in road-related-issues...and shouldn't have a heavy in hand in what goes on unless it's to protect citizen privacy and liberty.