Fancy cars have had tire pressure monitoring systems for a while now, but this new system from Schrader Electronics takes that useful concept into the future.

It's not quite explained whether this wireless Talking Tire Monitoring System actually talks to you, but one way or another it notifies you when your tire pressure is low. But it's a whole lot smarter than that, showing you how much tread is left on those tires, and even sensing slippery road conditions in real time, notifying you how much traction your tires are getting.

Sometimes you can't tell how slippery a road is until it's too late. This life-saving tech won't come a moment too soon — look for it in cars by 2013.

Guardian, via Treehugger