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The problem that caused the mandated interlock is one of routine. 99% of the time, the average driver pays no particular attention to anything when they get in their own car. They get in, start it, put it in gear, and drive off. In some cases, the revving of the engine isn't nearly apparent enough, and people get hurt. That was the case with my mother, and with many other people every year.
Yes, the pedal spacing on the Audi was part of the problem, but it wasn't the only car (and still isn't) with that issue. If you look through the NHTSA reports of accidents in almost any automatic-equipped vehicle from before the interlocks, you'll find a significant number of accidents just like those in the Audi 5000. In the case of the Audi, the real "smoking gun" in the investigation was the fact that a couple of drivers had literally bent the firewall pushing on the gas pedal, believing it was the brakes. Your brain doesn't want to accept what's going wrong in that situation, because you're so sure you have your foot on the brake.
The failure of vacuum lines and other mechannical causes was ruled out in the Audi case. Unfortunately, most people remember only the spectacular failure demonstrated by one of the TV news magazines, which was later exposed to have been rigged by a mechanic at the request of that network. They couldn't get the results they wanted through a normal sequence of events, so they dialed the line pressure of the transmission up to a ridiculous level, modified the torque converter to a much higher stall, disabled the power booster on the brakes, and a number of other things that made the brakes fail. In the real world, this scenario couldn't happen.
BTW, if you take any modern automatic transmission car, you can't overcome the brakes from a standing start with the engine. My brother (a Saturn sales manager) didn't believe me, so we took an automatic C5 Corvette out to test it. With the traction control turned off, the car in drive, and a foot planted firmly on the brakes, I floored it. The Vette went nowhere, and that's a car with 350hp.
BTW, on the Saturn issue, I'm wondering how long it'll be before there's a recall on the Vue SUV. I drove one back to the dealership after they had a leather interior installed. It was a brand new Vue with the evt automatic, and 3 times during the drive, my foot came off the brake pedal. It's simply too high for easy and solid application.
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1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.
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