Car Talk

The TV news has been talking about a "Vehicle to Vehicle" system whereby  electronics in cars would talk to other cars and somehow improve safety.  Presumably each car says "Here I am, Please don't hit me."  Receiving cars would compare their position with the position of the broadcasting car and if the on car microprocessor thinks there is danger of collision it brakes or, more daringly, swerves to miss. 
   Let's skip over some technical problems, like jamming of the airwaves during those 12 lane bumper to bumper traffic jams we get on the New Jersey Turnpike, or the Long Island Expressway.  And accuracy of the GPS signals the cars would use to figure their positions.    There is only 12 feet of difference between a car safely on coming in the opposite lane and a drunk coming head on in your lane.  If the GPS is off by only a few feet in either car, the microprocessors will panic and jam on the brakes.  This I do not need after dark in a snow storm.  Then you get no protection against a car whose electronics are broke and is off the air. 
   The radio signals don't penetrate dirt, hills, Jersey barriers, any sort of obstacle that would block your sight.  In short, if you cannot see the other car, the vehicle-to-vehicle signals cannot get thru either.  So the system is no better than driving by eye, and I have a lot more confidence in my driving skills as opposed to a microprocessor's driving skills.
   This sounds like a pure cost enhancement to me.  Makes the car more expensive, harder to repair and less safe.
   The TV newsies have been nattering about privacy.  They fear the system will broadcast your name, driver's license number, and every place you drive to.  That may be a problem, but I'd worry more about having the brakes jammed on in bad weather and throwing my car into a spin, or swerving into a telephone pole when evading an imaginary obstacle.