How unfamiliar technology might have doomed these two women,

There is no mention of the model of car, nor the technology it used. Just that it was a blue Mercedes.
What was mentioned is that ferry workers “typically” place blocks behind car wheels. Why this wasn’t done is unknown.

You appear to be trying to make a connection where none is evident. Further information may arise that supports your supposition, but right now it appears you are jumping to conclusions.

In any event, it is always important for people to be familiar with the tech they are using. Be it the owner of a car using a parking break, or ferry worker using a block.

 

maybe it was a boeing

 

What happened to the wheel chocks that the ferry workers are supposed to put on all the end vehicles?
What happened to the restraining cable that should catch rolling cars? This is not a single-point failure, it is at least three distinct failures.

Cars possibly rolling off the end are a known failure mechanism that other ferry systems have already learned how to address.

"WSVN-TV reported that ferry workers typically place blocks under the tires of the vehicles they're hauling to prevent them from rolling. According to the Herald, thin netting is strung across the edge of the ferry to prevent cars from falling, rather than a metal barrier like the one on the Balboa Island ferry in Newport, California."

 

Nah! …in these cases, I am reminded of Charles Darwin's theory!

 

Not enough information "yet" to really know.
I think hypothetical speculation is OK though, but conclusion isn't warranted or viable. Authorities will investigate and probably be able to determine what state the vehicle was in...that is...in park, running, whatever....
I would speculate that the Ferries action of providing wood blocks, and a safety net, is more of a unoccupied preventative measure, for vehicles that may not have their parking brakes on, but even if in place wouldn't stop a vehicle with momentum and/or one that is running. BUT I'm breaking my own rule here, and speculating without enough definitive information.
At this point? It's just a sad tragedy. RIP to the victims.

 

Ages 63 and 75, thus not eligible for any Darwin Award. Rather, just an all-too-commonplace tragedy.

 

I always thought it was funny how all the automakers copied the Prius start button for no other reason than marketing

 

An electric parking brake can be programed to engage when the car is turned off or put into park. It can also save over 10 pounds of weight, helping with efficiency.

It isn't technology for its own sake.

Push button start was in luxury cars before the Prius. Giving it to the Prius when only Lexus had it was marketing by Toyota. Like many features(power windows and such) that show up in high end models first, it was only a matter of time before the others got it.

 

Hybrids need something different than a regular ignition lock.

Could still be a key, but they came up with sks. A neat trick, but not universally praised.
Nissan was the first ad I remember promoting the push button on a gasser

 

To be fair, the controls of lots of german u-boats were pretty confusing:


You might think they just put it in "dive" and hit the gas, but apparently there's a little more to it.

 

At least it wasn’t an issue if they went off the end of the ferry

 

Gen 1 had a regular key (and locked the steering column). Also a shift lever that made its little electronic selections with a real mechanical kerchunk.

When they swapped the key for the pushbutton was when they also swapped the steering column lock for the motorized, supposedly-hard-to-access Park lock actuator.

 

PARK? You mean that brake pull lever in the center of my household's non-Prii, all with manual transmissions?

By "old mechanical", I think of the stick shifts still on everything in my household except the Prius. Plenty of such legacy vehicles are still on the road. No Park gear to be enforced at shutdown, and now (on our 2014 Subaru) not even an ignition key / steering wheel interlock. That "newfangled" mechanism was replaced by engine immobilizers. I simply pull the key out the same way as before those interlocks existed. And it has always been easy to leave these rigs free rolling in Neutral.

Simple, reliable, but never really universal.

The transition from key start to push button start ought not be any tougher than the previous transition from manual to automatic. That shifter should be no more confusing that the various zig-zag and gated shifters of various regular automatics, created for various reasons.

I don't believe many folks here would insist that the user interfaces should have been frozen at any past point just to avoid driver unfamiliarity with new technical advances.

 

Turns out push button start is nearly as old as EVs. The first ICE cars with starters used a button to activate it.

As for modern push button start, "The key starter remained the only way to start a car until 1998, when Mercedes-Benz introduced “Keyless Go” on the fourth-generation S-Class. Building on the remote fobs used industry wide to lock unlock cars since 1983, it used technology developed by Siemens. Keyless Go allowed drivers to walk up to their locked car, open it by tugging on the door handle, get in, and push a button to start the car. Full circle."
Push-button start: An old-school solution reimagined for the modern age

My Sonic had a key that you turned to activate the electric start. Didn't have to hold it at start position until the engine fired up like past cars.

There was just no where for the gas to go if the batteries started venting though.