The Department of Transportation has proposed mandating vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V) in all cars and pickups. It has also asked for comment on that proposal.
In that spirit, we have one or two, or three. Before the technology is implemented, the DOT needs to make sure it is as hack-proof as is humanly (or machinely, as it were) possible.
Causing havoc on the highways will be a shiny lure to bad actors in-country and abroad. Privacy is also an issue. One application is targeted advertising gleaned from information about where our car is—at the mall, at a gas station.
While not wanting to discourage creative marketing (Garmin and GPS apps have changed the way we pick our highway meals stops, for example) a flashing yellow light is in order before we turn our vehicles into the latest marketing vehicle.
Finally, the FCC is working on a framework for sharing between V2V and those cable wireless hotspots that allow us to port our cable broadband service to the nearest coffee shop. While that does not trump vehicle safety, obviously, the two need to be considered in tandem with the goal of letting them both share the infohighway
