Ignition question

I am the owner of a Saturn 2002 L200 4-door sedan. My vehicle has two switches under the steering wheel that were once used for towing my car behind an RV. One switch kills all the electricity in the vehicle, the other stops the car from running. I let my dad borrow the car for a while, and found that he occasionally, if not frequently, hit the switches while driving, causing the car to come to an abrupt stop and ending all electric and other features of the vehicle at once. Aside from the jolt of the vehicle when this happens, I am wondering what else this could damage?

When he returned the car to me he said he had to replace the ignition system (the key, he said, stopped turning and did not allow the car to start). This was a costly $600 to replace, and I am wondering if the damage was due to the switches being switched while the vehicle was in motion? Or, if it is just a standard replacement on a vehicle of 9 years and 120,000 miles.