Car talk - [update]

Under pressure to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion, fuel consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions, the European Union has spawned a batch of projects to give cars the ability to communicate wirelessly with the road and among themselves. The effort, similar to some in Japan and the United States, has reached a major milestone following a June EU ruling that set aside RF spectrum for vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Those developing car- and road-communications systems will begin testing their wares this fall ahead of large-scale road trials at six sites in Europe, which will begin in early 2009. Experts expect the technologies to begin commercial deployment as soon as 2011.