Toyotas and other Japanese brands have had these things for some time now. I hate them, and disable them when I can. It's another point of failure when a car will not start. Once had an intermittent pedal switch. Drove me crazy tracking that down!

Also, in a pinch, you can use the starter to move a car a short distance if you have to. To get safely to the side of the road if your motor gives out, for example. (been there...)

'Safety' devices are not always safe. Look at the whole airbag mandate. Saves some, but can kill smaller people. But no, we can't let people switch them off themselves. They might sue us after they forget to turn it back on. Same with that damn ABS. Manufacturers admit it is less safe in snow, but you can't turn it off. Alas, a silly mattress-covered world would seem to be our destiny.

The automatic tranny brake pedal interlock came out of the whole Audi "unintended acceleration" thing in the 80s, which nearly drove Audi out of the US market, though it was proven to be a total farce.

If you have a clutch pedal switch, a neat trick is to disable it at the pedal, but use the circuit to install a hidden manual switch to act as an anti-theft device.

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1986 300E 5-Speed 240k mi.