dead man’s lever

dead man’s lever
 n.— «Having produced or presented most of Australia’s current affairs programs, with the occasional live disaster, I used to joke that we ought to have a “dead man’s lever” such as those on trains which would bring the program screeching to a halt if things got out of control.» —“Moving Right Along, Folks” by Peter Luck Sun-Herald (Australia) May 19, 1996. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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