Most modern cars tend to be packed with electronics, including the accelerator and steering wheel, which are often serving as slight indications of the passengers’ will to the onboard computer that really controls the car.
The Register carries an interesting article about the effects of buggy software in today’s world: Apparently a BMW 318 decided to “fly by wire” in the UK and was determined to accelerate fully regardless of what the driver thought about that idea:
Nicolle explained: "I was travelling down the motorway and I came to traffic in front of me. I took my foot off the accelerator because it's automatic - but I wasn't slowing down at all." "I hit the brakes. They were braking ok, they were keeping me at about 70mph. So I phoned up the police after I called the AA and they said straight away 'stick your hazard lights on and headlights on - we've got a helicopter en route to you'." Nicolle attempted unsuccessfully to stick the Beemer in neutral, but found the gears jammed. "Then the brakes started burning out - I could see smoke coming from the brakes," he said.
While the “satanic BMW” is a funny read, the idea of sitting in such a machine with both feet on the brakes, accelerating like crazy when the brakes finally died, is anything but funny.
It also serves as a nice example of the real-worldly effects of buggy software. And people really ask me why I want to be able to control this software myself by demanding Free Software?
