I don't agree. They breached their own covenant, which doesn't afford them the benefit of the doubt you might assign to 'knowledgeable researchers doing serious work': "We won't do anything life threatening." Then they did precisely that: they disabled the transmission on an uphill freeway ramp with no shoulder, with a very large truck bearing down on the Jeep. Trucks cannot stop quickly. Substantial danger for the driver, the trucker, and everyone around them.