Ditto the LifeHammer. Mine's tucked into one of those wraparound pads on the shoulder belt. Any impact that can tear that loose will probably not leave me in a condition to worry about it.

It's not something that can be implemented anytime soon, but I think AI is going to be the ultimate lifesaver on the highways. When cars drive themselves, you'll eliminate the majority of the collisions.

I remember a James Bond movie where Q had given Bond a car with an interesting theft protection device. When one of the bad guys broke the window of the car, the whole thing blew up (eliminating that bad guy from the gene pool at least)

Flamethrower?

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11/flame.thrower.car/

or video at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDrzMGdYWZc

To the first question: Yes, they will eventually become required or at least standard equipment on nearly every vehicle (even though most vehicles already have them).

How will this happen you ask? Through the Insurance Institue for Highway Safety. The black box saves insurance companies money. Therefore, the IIHS will see it as a "safety item" and rate cars poorly that don't have it. Eventually the NHTSA (the goverment version of the IIHS) will follow like they always do and we'll see black boxes becoming mandatory or at least standard equipment. It's already happening. This is how Tire Pressure Monitering and Stability Control recently became required features.

To answer your second question:

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1105364095740

I know Germany requires (at least in the late 80s, when I was stationed in Berlin) a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit. Our German-made Fords had recesses built in for mounting both of those. I'd love to see that as a standard feature, along with a Lifehammer mounted up front.

A jack that works, and maybe a lug wrench that will loosen/tighten lug nuts?

1. Receiver for laser engine shutdown system.
High speed chases scare me.

Cop has laser, points it at car, engine stops.

No more high speed chases, no waiting for the drunk to notice the flashing lights.

(With appropriate security against non-cop lasers of course.)

2. DL reader. Swipe card to start car. Revoked license won't work - delivers shock instead. I hear MANY MANY MANY habitual traffic offenders, suspended/revoked drivers etc get pulled over when I listen to my scanner. (I'd rather they were roadside executed but I think that's too much to ask for.)

3. Cellphone noise source which jams cellphone service when the car is moving faster than 25 mph. Bonus for jammer that can deliver EMP to a text transmitting device.

You can not regulate safe driving anymore than you can legislate effective parenting, but the most fool proof way to reduce traffic fatalities is to reduce the speed of collisions (both for single car accidents or multiple car accidents). A 55 mph regulator on cars would save the most lives. A crash at 55 mph on the free way would be far less catastrophic than a crash at 80 mph. And less likely, since it increases contollablility of the vehicle and gives people more time to respond.

Opinion coming up, I think people drive more dangerously the safer they feel their cars are. Seat belts, roll bars, air bags, side air bags, etc. make people act more dangerously. This means that safety improvements in cars have a minimal, null or perhaps even negative impact on injuries and fatalities. I have no evidence to back this opinion up what so ever.

So few people will change their own flats nowadays that the eu is considering removing the requirement to carry a spare.
Uniquely Spain requires you to have a hi-vis vest in the car in case you need to change a tire, this definitely makes sense and I'm betting most people here carry one.

Not sure about the extinguisher, given the rarity of accidental car fires and that most of them occur on freeways/major roads I think the risk of people being hurt trying to fight them (by the fire or traffic) probably outweighs the benefit.
Nevermind how you would enforce it when so many people refuse to even wear seatbelts.

Cleaning beer off my screen. I've thought the same thing...

I'd go for the fire extinguisher/reflective triangle/first aid kit.