While I think some of the claims of consumers about the car were overblown, and the testimony of a few consumers who basically claim the car caused them to speed down the highway (what you never heard of using the emergency break) was more amusing than "scary", I think that this does show how as software starts to do things that could threaten a consumers life that we need to have solid protocols for how that is dealt with.

Do we say "nobody use your toaster until the firmware is updated" or do we do the traditional recall thing and offer an exchange to those who registered their product, or do we go full in and use the internet to say, "your toaster will not work until it is updated".

We see some of this in Windows 8. It routinely says you need to install the update in the next hour, your PC is going to reboot, do so now or later. This is an attempt to keep your computer safe even if it creates a bad user experience.

Should cars do the same thing? Should Toasters? How unsafe does it need to be to warrant preventing use?