I read this too and it was enough to scare me off.

I have the drop-in version of the same item.

You cannot light it or turn on the gas simply by bumping the knob: you have to press the knob down, turn it to the ignition point, and hold it for several seconds before the gas lights.
You can turn the handles, without pressing them down, for cleaning, for example, and no gas comes out. If the gas accidentally blows out, the gas shuts itself off.

It is far harder to light a Bertazzoni than North American gas tops. In fact, some people are put off them because of having to hold the knob at the ignition point for a few seconds after ignition.

It's a great product - I've been cooking daily on mine for 5 years now.

I have had a Bertazzoni pro style range for almost 4 years now. I wrote a longer review about it, there is a thread about it... http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg1100371919356.html?26 It is a bit worrisome to me that the knobs do not feel totally locked when they are in the closed position. People lean on my range due to the location in the kitchen, and sometimes they bump into the oven ignite which starts it ticking but doesn't release gas unless you turn it.

As far as the range top goes, which is what I think you're only asking about... I feel that it may be a bit more dangerous than other ranges I've used. It is easy to just gently push the knobs in and turn them to a point where the gas is released. As with any pro style range, having the knobs directly on the face of the range makes them more prone to child fiddling. I have often thought about 3d printing a knob 'holster' for them to keep any of them from moving unless it's removed.

I haven't run into the problem with kiddos turning it on, or releasing gas, yet. I have young ones in the house often enough who love to push all the buttons on everything. But I would probably equate that to the fact that we basically live in this kitchen and that is the only time the kids are in there.

Personally I think any gas range/rangetop is going to have inherent risks, kids or no. I will say my Bert is much easier to 'start' than my my Wolf which really requires a heftier push and turn. Not sure if this one item would be enough to tell you to stay away from the Bert however. I wouldn't say it 'just takes a bump' to start it. It takes more effort than that.

I linked a video review I did of the range at the bottom which I assume has the same performance as the range top. You can see how far you need to turn the handles to turn it on and off in there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bertazzoni video review