[xenon]

You obviously missed the bit about it not latching - if you flicked it upwards, thinking it was something else (quite what, I don't know) you'd get a potential lunge for the briefest of seconds unless you kept it held upwards against the spring pressure. If it was "dangerous" as you categorically state, I'm surpised that it was allowed under C&U regulations and that the newspapers aren't awash with tragic tales of where this accident-waiting-to-happen has happened. I've never flown a Piper but I have flown a Cessna where the electrical master switch has a spring cover to prevent accidental activation. Perhaps electric handbrakes need the same.