While it might sound nifty to know that a traffic accident just happened 5 miles ahead (airbag deploy detector transmits to nearest roadside traffic sensor, which notifies State Patrol and alerts on-comming traffic via the same roadside sensor/transmitters), the likelyhood of this technology CAUSING as many problems as it solves seems to escape everyone's attention.
So what happens when 5000 cars decide to exit a freeway just because one lane is blocked ahead? What does that do to the local surface streets? How many additional accidents are caused?
What happens when joe hacker breaks into the system and decides to shut down each engine that passes a certain transmitter, or alerts police to accidents that don't exist while banks are robbed elsewhere?
How many private citizend will have to be jailed for disconnecting these privacy invading devices the minute they drive off the dealers lot?
The benifits are oversold, new risks are overlooked (did anyone predict airbags would kill kids, or allow death-wish driving?).
The promise will be that this is the first step toward self driving cars - hop in, key in your destination and watch a movie while the car drives you there. The reality will be something totally different.
To error is human. To really F**K things up, you need a computer.
A couple of years ago a murder was solved because of the tracking system in the truck the perp drove.
Wouldn't the cops just love to have known where Scott Peterson drove the day his wife disapeared? Although that jerk is so damn smart, he probably would have spoofed it.