Talking-car safety mandate hits unexpected pothole of opposition

The screen in Delphi's automated vehicle shows the car stopping on its own after communicating with a stop light at an intersection at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in this January 5, 2016 file photo.REUTERS/Rick Wilking/Files

A once-popular idea to equip cars with technology to communicate with one another and avoid collisions is encountering unexpected potholes in Washington. 

An array of forces, from free-market groups opposed to government mandates to cable providers angling for greater access to high-speed wireless airwaves, have mounted opposition to a proposal that all new cars have vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems.