What Happens if You Shift to Park While Driving?

[Jimrpa]

I was recently reading an article (I forget where) and it was describing the behavior of various EVs (Tesla, Rivian, Bolt, etc) if you move the gear selector to park while the vehicle is in motion. Apparently, most of them just display a message to the effect of “don’t do this”, but if you continue to do so, they will act as some kind of “emergency brake” and slow down the vehicle. They said the Bolt is slightly different because it has a parking pawl so the parking pawl will be engaged but not damaged because it’s spring-loaded. It will just click until the vehicle stops.
What does the Mustang Mach E do if we turn the dial to Park while the car is in motion?

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[Kamuelaflyer]

I've heard that if you're in reverse and twist the little knob the wrong way the car will come to a bouncing, rocking stop immediately. No actual experience in this of course.

 

[KevinS]

If only there was a way you could test this...

 

[generaltso]

I tested it a while ago with a loaner. It wouldn't shift into Reverse or Park while driving. It just went into Neutral.

 

[Jimrpa]

I tested it a while ago with a loaner. It wouldn't shift into Reverse or Park while driving. It just went into Neutral.

Cool, thanks!

 

[azerik]

I've heard that if you're in reverse and twist the little knob the wrong way the car will come to a bouncing, rocking stop immediately. No actual experience in this of course.

This. Exactly. Oh and the backup beep stops right away too!

 

[A-A-Ron]

I've heard that if you're in reverse and twist the little knob the wrong way the car will come to a bouncing, rocking stop immediately. No actual experience in this of course.

I can confirm this

 

[MrPicklechip]

The shift dial on the center console is one of the few things I truly dislike about the MME. The whole concept of putting a rather easy to bump in to, no safety switch, free spinning dial in the center console is truly a dumb idea that just about all modern Fords have. It wastes space, something of a hazard, and looks ugly.

Ranting aside, my dog turned the dial from D -> P the other day when I was at 45mph. The dash said the car will run in ‘low gear’ when this happened…and I quickly turned the dial back to D. There was no slowing down or noticeable noise indicating something bad happened. I was in that state for less than 5 seconds since I was worried about doing a Fast and Furious power drift

So, not a recommended behavior but it didn’t seem to harm the car.

 

[RickMachE]

The shift dial on the center console is one of the few things I truly dislike about the MME. The whole concept of putting a rather easy to bump in to, no safety switch, free spinning dial in the center console is truly a dumb idea that just about all modern Fords have. It wastes space, something of a hazard, and looks ugly.

Ranting aside, my dog turned the dial from D -> P the other day when I was at 45mph. The dash said the car will run in ‘low gear’ when this happened…and I quickly turned the dial back to D. There was no slowing down or noticeable noise indicating something bad happened. I was in that state for less than 5 seconds since I was worried about doing a Fast and Furious power drift

So, not a recommended behavior but it didn’t seem to harm the car.

Low gear is "L" I believe, so no issue.

This really goes to show how unacceptable it is for people to let their dogs drive. Time and time again we see that dogs have zero ability to drive safely, although apparently better than cats.

 

[Old_Norm]

I hate it when my dog chases cars...with my car.

 

[MrPicklechip]

Wasn’t Bluecruise supposed to help with the Toonces syndrome?

 

[Stimulant]

I've heard that if you're in reverse and twist the little knob the wrong way the car will come to a bouncing, rocking stop immediately. No actual experience in this of course.

Another "can confirm" here.

Depressing the brake stopped the bobble.

 

[zhackwyatt]

The shift dial on the center console is one of the few things I truly dislike about the MME. The whole concept of putting a rather easy to bump in to, no safety switch, free spinning dial in the center console is truly a dumb idea that just about all modern Fords have. It wastes space, something of a hazard, and looks ugly.

What is your preference?

 

[zhackwyatt]

Another "can confirm" here.

Depressing the brake stopped the bobble.

My guess is its speed related. If you are reversing at a high rate of speed it won't affect anything...but I'm not trying it.

Usually cars have fail safes for these things. Such as not being able to open the tailgate while driving.

 

[MrPicklechip]

I like on the dash (eg my 2019 Lincoln Nautilus)…out of the way and you have to deliberately press the button. But I realize the MME interior designers wanted that ‘Tesla-like look’ with a long, clean dash.

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