Brent wrote:
> On 2008-12-04, Steve > wrote:
>> Brent wrote:
>>> On 2008-12-04, Steve > wrote:
>>>> Brent wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> with computer controls it would be entirely software to shut down the
>>>>> car now.
>>>> And the first time someone gets killed because he didn't have the choice
>>>> of sacrificing his engine to get to a safe spot....
>>> I wasn't implying a hard cut off, 'now' meant in the present day.
>>>
>> Yes... but does it make a difference? If the computer shuts the car off
>> 'now' or 'in 30 seconds,' its still out of the driver's control. I know
>> you mentioned an override switch, but I can still see the lawsuits
>> flying. "I got all scared when the warning went off, I couldn't find the
>> switch, so I looked around for it and hit a guardrail while I was
>> looking down, and then a truck hit me, my passenger was killed and I'm
>> paralyzed. The carmaker owes me 300 million dollars."
>
> What do these idiots do when the ignition module cuts out?
>
> Or better yet, when the engine ultimately siezes up from overheating?
>
>

Brent, you're making sense. Stop it. Now think like a lawyer:

Those incidents you mentioned are "acts of God" and you can't win a
lawsuit based on them.

But if the computer SHUTS DOWN the engine BY DESIGN, well my-oh-my,
that's willful murder on the part of the manufacturer! Now we've got a
CASE!!