What needs to fail for this to happen? For a car to keep accelarating, the engine needs to be running, the throttle needs to be open, the transmission needs to be transmitting power to the driving wheels, and the brakes must not be applied. So in this case:
The engine could not be stopped. Keyless car, and the electronics ignored pressing the 'stop' button. Possible
A drive by wire throttle can theoretically get stuck open due to some electronic malfunction. Fair enough.
The brakes: Power assisted, electronic controlled, but surely these are still hydraulical? Is electronic malfunction likely? I say unlikely, but let's give the benefit of doubt.
So, the transmission... Look at the picture. http://www.renault.com/img/gamme/images/velsatis_i nt4.jpg/
Surely if you shift that thing into neutral, your car WILL loose drive?
The story sounds unlikely, but not impossible in future, as more and more electronics creep into our cars. Mind you, I'm not against electronics, the chips in my car has saved my arse more than once...
What about encrypting swap space? This will not a) solve the problem completely, and b) may waste CPU cycles, but should be within easy reach of OS implementors. If your system swaps so often that that becomes a problem, you're in trouble anyway...
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The engine could not be stopped. Keyless car, and the electronics ignored pressing the 'stop' button. Possible
A drive by wire throttle can theoretically get stuck open due to some electronic malfunction. Fair enough.
The brakes: Power assisted, electronic controlled, but surely these are still hydraulical? Is electronic malfunction likely? I say unlikely, but let's give the benefit of doubt.
So, the transmission... Look at the picture. http://www.renault.com/img/gamme/images/velsatis_i nt4.jpg/
Surely if you shift that thing into neutral, your car WILL loose drive?
The story sounds unlikely, but not impossible in future, as more and more electronics creep into our cars. Mind you, I'm not against electronics, the chips in my car has saved my arse more than once...
What about encrypting swap space? This will not a) solve the problem completely, and b) may waste CPU cycles, but should be within easy reach of OS implementors. If your system swaps so often that that becomes a problem, you're in trouble anyway...