First: Some toll bridges in the US use this tech already, reading barcodes on side windows as you pass.
Second: YIKES! While I'm basically one of those anti-car types, this shit sets alarm bells ringing! I am also against putting a price tag on everything and levying user fees as a solution to the world's ills. And I am definitley against more data on my activities being scanned into someone's database. What am I for? You had to ask....
And ya know, one time I had to get from Miami to St. Pete, so we rented a car, which was the cheapest way to go. They had travelling-salesman-sedans, put-puts, and a metalic blue Mustang convertible for $15 more. I was with my son, then age 4, and asked him which we should go for. He gravitated toward the racy looking one too, so we took it.
... and when he pushed that button, and the roof came down, shoulda' seen his eyes light up. We ripped across the everglades with the roof down, stopping only at the park visitor center and an Albertson's in Naples, where we ate supermarket sandwiches on the parking lot median strip -- a commuters picnic.
Not, perhaps, what Norwegian control systems engineers do for kicks, and certainly not pc parenting, but, by golly, I admit I liked it.
Tom
Tom Kruse / Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-42) 48242 Email: tkruse at albatros.cnb.net