"I say, phone . . . find me a Chinese restaurant in Brighton and book me a table for two for seven tonight."

"Certainly, sir."

Moments later, the phone says: "That has been booked for you, sir."

The car is told to find the restaurant, to give detailed directions at each turn and perhaps find the nearest car park. It's all automatic.

Far fetched? Not a bit of it. The technology already exists and these little extras could be available to car buyers in just a few years' time.

It means scenes from the James Bond films, Eighties TV show KnightRider and The Saint will become reality where drivers and cars interact on a daily basis.

The science is moving so quickly that Sussex Police are studying developments closely.

They have to, to keep pace and to look at all the breakthroughs from crime-fighting and accident-prevention points of view.

Their criteria is different from the manufacturers. They ask will these devices make our roads and driving safer? Will they save lives? Will they crack crime?

Inspector Andy Rooke and his traffic department colleagues occasionally visit car manufacturers in the UK and in Europe looking at new developments. They also maintain close links with Government agencies.

He said: "Some of these developments are astonishing and, as a car fan, I find them very intriguing."

They are called smart cars, vehicles that speak to each other, to breakdown services, to their suppliers and, if need be, to your mother-in-law.

All the major car manufacturers are racing to bring them to the driving public.

Mercedes and others already have a system that tells their HQ if one of their vehicles has been stolen.

The owner electronically locks his car and if it then moves, a satellite message is beamed to Mercedes telling exactly where the vehicle is and what speed it is travelling at.

Technology exists to tell the car to slow to 20mph or even stop.

Good news for owners and the police. But would it be safe to stop the car?

And if the vehicle is owned by someone in the UK, is stolen in France, and is moving around in Italy, which national police force is responsible?

Mr Rooke said the UK Association of Chief Police Officers and its European counterparts try to iron out similar creases.

He is particularly keen on one development - cars with infra-red night vision, a system that would pick out that wandering pedestrian staggering back from the pub on a dark or foggy night.

The Japanese are already producing vehicles with this optional extra and Cadillac has a version where you view the scene ahead on your windscreen.

Jaguar is producing sports cars with "adaptive cruise control" and radar which means you can sit in a line of traffic on the M23 and let the car adapt to the speed of the vehicles moving ahead, always keeping you at a safe distance.

There is one system that goes further. The "electronic tow-bar" will "speak" to computers in vehicles ahead and tell them when you intend leaving the motorway. And it can operate with no hands on the wheel or feet on the pedals if you wish.

The vehicles around you adapt to your movements accordingly and vice versa. The potential for fuel savings is huge, especially for freight traffic.