[evgen]

While it is easy to say "put it in neutral", this is not quite a simple as it once was. With the popular serpentine shift patterns on modern cars a lot of people are surprised to find that neutral is no longer just a spot on the transition path between park and drive. To take a frequently cited example, the ES350 whose stuck accelerator killed a CHP officer and his family has a shift pattern that makes getting into neutral a bit more tricky than you suggest (particularly when you are shooting down the road at over 140 feet per second.) The driver response to these incidents may factor in to some of the problems and the fact that Toyota is the company with a problem may have politicized some of the government response, but to suggest that the solution was as simple as you claim reveals a profound ignorance of the facts at hand.

[electromagnetic]

Putting into neutral isn't a necessity, any downshift in gears will increase the torque of the engine and thus decrease the maximum velocity. Even if you can't get it into neutral, getting it into 1st or 2nd will still get you slowed down to a more manageable speed.

The major failure of all automobile manufacturers is that they haven't implemented a fail safe mechanism in the event of engine failure at velocity. If they had it would literally be as simple as turning the engine off and the brakes deploying at a reasonable (IE not maximum) pressure.

The fact of the matter is that every vehicle except consumer automobiles fail safe from aeroplanes to tractor trailers (power failure leads to de-pressurizing of the air compressor and the brakes apply harder as the air level decreases). Toyota shouldn't be being hauled up, they all should be for risking civilian lives. IMO you accept certain risks when you pilot an aircraft, train, or transportation vehicle, however these are all typically far safer than the vehicles readily handed to consumers. That just is not right.

[erso]

Getting it into a lower gear would mean the engine's current RPM is at a level low enough for the transmission to allow you to shift it into a lower gear. You can throw an automatic into "1" at 80mph and it won't comply.

[cookiecaper]

I think it's probably because people would assume that a car with a big button that says EMERGENCY STOP or something like that is more likely to need an emergency stop button than a car that doesn't have one.

Though I guess they already have that in the form of "emergency brake". Do you suggest they implement electronics to perform these functions when the e-brake is depressed?