I was reading the stuff google showed me for "traffic waves", as suggested by a friend, and enjoying the truth of the effectiveness of anti-jam driving.
Then I thought that if we all (or actually even a small fraction of us) collaborated to do anti-jam driving we could improve gas milage and tempers for many many people.
Then I wanted the coordination communication to happen with auto-mesh WiFi in our auto-mobiles. I still can't see how to make this into a clear need for an auto-zooming UI. Damn. Well, take what you can get.
Then I wanted the WiFi device to speak to me while I was keeping my eyes on the road.
The radio speaks to me. And the TomTom GPS driving assistant speaks to me. Aha!
The TomTom is already intended to use sophisticated wireless (GPS) to help me drive better and save gas and reduce frayed nerves.
Just add 802.11S and a little software and 20% (or 10?, or 5?) of the drivers who respond appropriately to the spoken advice from their TomTom will save the highways from unnecessary traffic jams!
What an inexpensive fix to a widely distributed time, gas, and frustration wasting problem!
And a little step toward having the cars do the driving so we can enjoy the scenery and our cell phones and TVs and even our companions.
When we're ready, we can later add "cruise control" features to allow close spaced caravans, to reduce wind drag and improve lane capacity even more. Naturally it would auto-spread when zipper merges are needed.