What really indicates assassination in the Hastings case, to me anyway, is the fact that the engine and part of the drive train were found 50 meters behind the direction of the car's movement at about 160 kph. In response to media coverage, Mercedes-Benz stated, "Our cars do not explode."

I suppose that makes sense, I really don't know how these newer automatics work. I really dislike cars made after 2004 just because they're mostly impossible to work on. Which is why I'll stick with my computer-free gas-waster :)

Am I the only one that learned how to shift into neutral if/when the accelerator sticks? It was actually covered for the DMV test and everything... Maybe things have changed since then.

Still, it's the cars that can self-park that are scary, they could just jerk the wheel to the left and be done with you.

Not sure why it took this long for people to understand that this has been a capability. Everything about the Hastings case screams assassination. This is what assassination looks like in the modern day. Why use a bullet when you can take control of the car, give the appearance of an overdose, give someone a heart attack or super aggressive cancer? Bombs and bullets are too flashy and draw too much attention. Methods used for high profile killings are made to appear self inflicted or driven by nature - there's less culpability that way.

If the brakes, steering, and gas are fly-by-wire, though, you're still pretty SOL.

The 'hacking' done on *Wired was a joke

Oooh, now THIS is the kind of paranoia I like to see. Very intriguing. How frightening to know your car could be hacked and disabled with the right people and the right equipment.

Damn, this makes my skin crawl. The control that someone can take from you is getting scary. I'm only buying cars from 2000 or before now.

Just because you aren't paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.