The guys with the pocket protectors gotta stop! Jalopnik
reports that our Orwellian friends in the “Intelligent Transportation Systems” industry have come up with a
technology that creates an interface between speed limit signs and your vehicle to control its speed. The
technology will be seen at a conference this week in Australia called Smart Demo 2005, where ever-oppressive but
potentially life-saving “active safety systems” will star in the show.
At the show will be futuristic vehicles from manufacturers like Ford and Holden, who will show off their driver-free
“smart cars” (somehow I think they’re onto something — you’d have to take some drivers out of the car in order to make
it smart) and other forms of technology that take all the fun out of driving.
I shouldn’t make fun of the pocket protector folks, though — they’re the only ones who can teach me how to shut the
darn gadget off.