It is beyond me why simply taking it out of gear won't stop a car which is accelerating out of control. In the demonstration on ABC that's exactly what the reporter did when the car took off uncontrolled. If the problem is at all related to the test they were demonstrating then why is it not effective in the cases we hear about. I heard the guy in San Diego say he was afraid to. Why?

My brother has a Ford Escape Hybrid, which is essentially the same system as the prius. Just as a test today he took it out of gear at around 40 miles per hour and the engine simply shut down. If the bug that causes these cars to accelerate out of control, somehow also disabling the transitions ability to be put in neutral? That seems very unlikely.

I think people are panicking and unable to act rationally. They don't know enough about how their cars operate, and how to stop them in an emergency. I also think all of this is being blown way out of proportion.
If I was a conspiracy theorist I might think that somehow GM is behind all of this.