If you thought dealing with a backseat driver was bad, try dealing with one that isn't even in your car.
One driver had to do just that after hackers managed to remotely commandeer the controls of his Jeep Cherokee, activating windshield wipers and blasting the radio—even going as far as turning off the car's engine in the middle of a highway, according to a report from Wired.
"The most disturbing maneuver came when they cut the Jeep's brakes, leaving me frantically pumping the pedal as the 2-ton SUV slid uncontrollably into a ditch," the Wired report read.
In a somewhat controlled experiment, hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek used a reporter as "a digital crash-test dummy" to call attention to vulnerabilities in Internet-connected entertainment and navigation systems featured in many new vehicles, the report said. (Tweet This)
"From an attacker's perspective, it's a super nice vulnerability," Miller told Wired, adding that the flaw could theoretically leave any early 2013 to early 2015 Chrysler vehicle open to the same kind of attack.
A Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman told CNBC that the company released a software update to improve vehicle security. A statement noted that the company "monitors and tests the information systems of all of its products to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities in the ordinary course of business."
The story comes to light on the same day Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey introduced new legislation calling for the FTC and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to secure the safety of cars on the road.
"Drivers shouldn't have to choose between being connected and being protected," Markey said, in a statement. "We need clear rules of the road that protect cars from hackers and American families from data trackers."