“False Park” Transmission Problems
Posted by John Sedgewick - 08/12/09 at 04:12 pmThe problem of “false park” and passenger cars, vans and trucks “jumping into gear” has been a problem for many years.
Some transmission-shifting systems are worse than others. More than thirty years ago, Ford received many complaints about its cars jumping into reverse. In the 1990s, Chrysler had many claims related to minivans slipping into gear unexpectedly. It is shocking and wrong that, with the long history of injuries (many to the elderly and to children), these problems continue.
There are two simple ways manufacturers can avoid or fix transmission-shift problems. First, they can address the “false park” situation, which arises when drivers think they have shifted into “park” when the shifter is actually hung up somewhere between park and reverse. In these cases, a small bump to the shifter, or even drive train vibration, can cause the car to slip into gear. It is not hard to design the PRNDL (park, reverse, neutral, drive, low) mechanism to eliminate this risk. Second, every vehicle should be sold with a “brake shift interlock” which prevents the transmission from coming out of park unless the brake is applied.
Despite the fact that these technologies have been known for many years, there are thousands of cars on the road today which may easily “jump into gear” and cause injury.
To make sure this does not happen to you or your family, do not own or drive a car without a brake shift interlock, and never leave the driver’s seat empty if the car is running. Always use your parking brake, and be sure that the transmission shift lever is firmly in the “park” position.
