"The brake pedal should directly act on the brakes."
There's no such thing as acting directly on the brakes. The brakes are on the wheels, the pedal to control them is inside next to the driver; some kind of linking system between the two is always going to be required. An electronic link is not inherently less safe than a mechanical one, and can actually be much safer and less susceptible to failure if done properly. The system in this particular case may or may not have had a safe design, but it's just as easy to design an unsafe mechanical system; the use of wires or mechanical parts tells you nothing about how safe the system as a whole actually is.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
