Sensible Cars

In this day and age, we have the technology to have sensors that measure distance and speed such as motion detectors, speedometers, speed cameras, alarms etc. We are more then capable of putting sensors on the front and back of cars for accident prevention purposes.
The idea goes like this. There is a sensor above every wheel of the car that can measure the distance between it and the nearest object. All this goes to a calculator type electronic chip. It can also measure how fast that object is going by deducting the speed between from the the speed of itself. Then it connected to the gears/brakes. It is programmed to calculate the likelihood of a collision and slow or stop the car accordingly. You could have a highway mode (long distance gaps between cars because of the high speeds), or parking mode (things can be a short way away, but the speed has to be slow).
The purpose of this is to prevent car accidents, one of the most fatal and crippling health problems of modern life. It could prevent or reduce everything from car park dings to pedestrian hits to highway pile ups. This will save fortune in hospital costs (for victims and governments alike), and in insurance payouts. The cost of putting the sensors in would be well and truly saved in mop up operation costs. It would also make life a whole lot more pleasant.
Because we can put sensors in cars as a safety mechanism, and car accidents are so horrific, I think putting them into vehicles should be compulsory by law.

Vacuum Cleaner for the Sea

There is large amount of plastics in various states of decomposition floating around in the ocean in huge, toxic clumps called garbage zones. As they break down, they become even more toxic, as they become small enough to be eaten by fish and enter the food chain. They give off petrochemicals, causing raised toxin levels in the food chain. We also occasionally get oil spills from oceanic oil mining. The plastic kills birds, fish and larger ocean lifeforms by getting tangled up around them and in them.
What is needed for a regrettable side effect of the global societies lifestyle is a vacuum device for these by-products that were never intended for the sea. Sounds odd, but it really isn't that hard to separate oil from water. It could float on the surface, like an opposite of a pool cleaner, pulling in the surface substances, pumping it through a large pipe onto a ship for removal and recycling. Excess water can be drained in the stillness on board. It could also have a filter preventing animals below from being vacuumed. This is a low risk factor though, as wildlife tends to avoid or die in plastic pools or oil spills.
The products can still be used as salvaged product. This would be beneficial to oil companies as a way to reclaim lost product as well as being good for public relations and conscientious shareholders. Also it means fishing industries won't sue, and great grandchildren inherit beaches and oceans that are still enjoyable, and sea food products that won't make them sick. It also will need a handful of workers to operate and maintain it and the ship, which could be a tug type thing with a cargo barge type thing. That's an idea anyway, which could well be worth a penny as well as gaining the producer a medal from the good guys.