Design News is a publication that I get and occasionally they have some pretty interesting writeups on design problems on their website. This one concerns the change from hydraulic power steering to electric.
Government mandated Electronic Stability Control will be in all vehicles by 2012, and as of this year 95% of cars have ESC. What that means is power steering is no longer going to be controlled by a mechanically connected steering column through hydraulic power steering. Instead electric power assisted steering under computer control will actually determine how your vehicle steer. Oh yeah, and there is no cable connecting your accelerator pedal to the engine. A sensor will read how much your foot is pressing on the pedal and a computer will determine how much acceleration should be provided, and how quickly it will respond.
The following is from Design News Made by Monkeys on the problems with a 2005 Chevy equipped with electric steering and what the owner had to do to get the potentially fatal flaw fixed.
JIM'S GARAGE 
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