Throttle Should Be A Cable.

In automobiles:

Throttle should be a cable or a linkage.

Brakes should be hydraulic.

Steering should be mechanical.

Shifters should be a cable or a linkage.

Lights should be wires and relays.

The radio should have a dedicated volume knob.

Always. Anything beyond these is a step into the Realm of Bad Ideas.

oh, and one more:

The default failure mode when sh*t goes haywire should NOT be "Uncontrolled Full-Throttle Acceleration You Can't Do Anything About No Matter What You Try Including Turning Off The Ignition, Shifting to Reverse, and Standing on the Brakes.

********

I always thought that drive-by-wire was a [deleted] stupid idea. When I heard of commercial passenger aircraft going to fly-by-wire instead of direct hydraulic controls, I got a case of the creeping willies. Airplanes go through ridonculous amounts of safety testing. Cars are, by comparison, a very slapdash affair. Just ask this guy, who used to design Fords, and would never buy one.