Discussing the incident below in another forum, where some said that one should always engage the parking break when parked, to which I said the parking break is unnecessary with an automatic transmission, as when it’s put into “park”, the vehicle can’t roll anywhere due to the trans being locked.
What's Veeky Forums opinion on using a parking break with an auto trans?
Anton Yelchin: Jeep that killed Star Trek actor was recalled for rollaway risk
The SUV that rolled down a driveway and killed Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was being recalled because the gear shifters have confused drivers, causing the vehicles to roll away unexpectedly, government records show.
Yelchin, 27, a rising actor best known for playing Chekov in the rebooted series, died on Sunday after his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee pinned him against a mailbox pillar and security fence at his home, Los Angeles police said.
The 2015 model-year Grand Cherokees were part of a global recall of 1.1m vehicles announced by Fiat Chrysler in April, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records show.
The agency urged the recall because of complaints from drivers who had trouble telling if they had put the automatic transmissions in park. If they were not in park and a driver left the vehicle, it could roll away.
My grandparents own the same model Jeep with the same gearshift. It was a accident waiting to happen, there is no alert to let you know, hey you ARE NOT in park, but reverse.
Kevin Phillips
Do you really need one? Can you not just look at the shifter and see what position it's in?
This is exactly the nanny bullshit we don't need. People shouldn't feel the need to assign all of the blame on the manufacturer for not chiming off and sounding a warning whenever the vehicle isn't in park? Press the button and push the handle all the way forward. Just like it has always been. Nothing has changed except for consumers getting dumber.
Christian Kelly
When I learned driving in highschool the instructor said that you only need to engage the parking brake if you're on an incline, as well as turning your wheels towards the curb.
Gavin Lewis
This. You can never be too safe parking on an incline. Don't you look down at what you're in before you get out or whatever? I drive an automatic and everytime I Park I lookdown to make sure I'm in Park.
Hudson Peterson
There have been tons of injuries with these shifters. It was bound to happen. I've never owned a manual, until literally yesterday, but I still have always engaged the e brake and turned the wheel toward the curb. Just seemed like a good habit so I did it.
The issue is the shifter is spring loaded and goes back to center, with no identification anywhere except on the shifter that it went into neutral instead of park.
