I take it you also can't stop thinking about your wife and kids being behind someone whose engine stalls, or who slams one's brakes to avoid hitting a deer, or who runs out of gas on an interstate (which has happened to me, thanks to my car's faulty fuel gauge). You must have a lot on your mind.
I don't agree with the methodology, either, but based on the information in the article, it sounded like the researchers didn't have much of a choice, seeing as how prior demonstrations were casually dismissed by the automakers. The auto manufacturers and the public both need a wakeup call, and this is a much more sane wakeup call than the even worse alternative of outright-malicious crackers breaking into vehicles en masse and reducing highway traffic to shrapnel in ridiculously-large pileups.
"I didn't have a choice but to fire a gun in the middle of a crowd of people. It was just a wake up call!. You always have a choice. One of those choices is to do the demo, but with the proper safety authorities helping. One of those choices is to perform the demo in a place where it is safe to pull your car over. One of those choices is to do the demo somewhere where the speeds are a little lower.
All of those things you listed are actual emergency situations that are hard to control. This is one thing where they were in full control of, and still decided to do it anyway. They had a choice, and they chose to endanger the public.
There's a big difference between firing a gun and a car gradually slowing down.
Yes, the researchers could have made better choices. They could have made worse choices, too. The "danger" here is significantly exaggerated given the descriptions of the scenario in the article (gradual slowdowns, contrary to popular belief, aren't that hard to react to in a timely manner), and it certainly does not compare to firing a gun.
I don't agree with the methodology, either, but based on the information in the article, it sounded like the researchers didn't have much of a choice, seeing as how prior demonstrations were casually dismissed by the automakers. The auto manufacturers and the public both need a wakeup call, and this is a much more sane wakeup call than the even worse alternative of outright-malicious crackers breaking into vehicles en masse and reducing highway traffic to shrapnel in ridiculously-large pileups.