<i>Drive-by-wire can be made safe</i><p>I absolutely agree, but I'd still like a kill-button on my car (ie, ignition switch), and brakes should have a physical backup in worst-case-scenario.  And, frankly, I don't trust any one company to do it right; it's the sort of thing that's ideal to make <i>really</i> public, so others can spot problems before they happen.<p>The ejection seat in those fighter jets aren't exclusively by-wire, last I checked, though they're probably enhanced somehow (not implying I'm an expert on fighter ejection seats, though).  Your ultimate-backup should ALWAYS be an independent, simple, physical system that effectively cannot go wrong.