As long as the clutch linkage doesn't break :-)

This happened to my dad while waiting at for a light at an intersection. Transmission in first, foot down on clutch: suddenly car leaps into intersection. This was long ago on a Volkswagen bus.

The drive by wire which is terrifying is the power steering. Traditionally it's hydraulic, but more cars are using electric. I sure hope that an electrical component failure can not lead to full turning force.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/electric-vs-hydraulic-s...

shutting off the car, setting it to neutral, etc... do the same thing. bad drivers will be bad.

> shutting off the car, setting it to neutral

Both of these are no fail-safe measures these days, as both ignition and auto transmissions are done entirely in software.