Beej Wrote:

Senor_Taylor Wrote:That said. I understand the shifter may be confusing, but to leave it in neutral would mean that the driver made effort to put it in Park. They just assumed neutral was park, right? It would be different if you had to leave it in neutral and then do something else, but in this car, you still shift all the way up to park, then the shifter returns to neutral. Bad design, but I wouldn't think FCA is at fault. That is driver error.

I think I have the shifter in question, and the "gears" don't have designated positions. You nudge the shifter back to go from P-R-N-D, and nudge it forward to go in the opposite direction - and there's a button you need to push to make change-of-direction moves.

It's actually pretty easy to nudge it from D with the intent of going to P, while winding up in N or R - usually when you don't push the button hard or early enough. There is a super forward "nudge point" (?) when you go up to P, but it's not that different from regular forward and yeah...easy to miss.

rherold9 Wrote:Does the cluster not tell you what you are in N, D, P, R?

Beej Wrote:

rherold9 Wrote:Does the cluster not tell you what you are in N, D, P, R?

The fact that I had to think about it means I'm not in the habit of looking there. Yeah it's in the cluster and the letters on the shift lever also illuminate which gear you're in. I guess I (and apparently most people, if they recalled the damn thing...I did get a chuckle when we got the letter) am just not in the habit of checking things like that.

That century of stopping the car, slamming it into P, and gtfo'ing without a thought of the car going on a murderous rampage has really caught up with society.

Chalk me up in favor of the mechanical parking brake while we're at it.

rherold9 Wrote:

Beej Wrote:

rherold9 Wrote:Does the cluster not tell you what you are in N, D, P, R?

The fact that I had to think about it means I'm not in the habit of looking there. Yeah it's in the cluster and the letters on the shift lever also illuminate which gear you're in. I guess I (and apparently most people, if they recalled the damn thing...I did get a chuckle when we got the letter) am just not in the habit of checking things like that.

That century of stopping the car, slamming it into P, and gtfo'ing without a thought of the car going on a murderous rampage has really caught up with society.

Chalk me up in favor of the mechanical parking brake while we're at it.

I guess I'm weird then. I always check the cluster in an automatic to make sure it is in the right place.... I mean that is part of driving and all. I don't care if it take 9 button clicks, 10 jumping jacks, and the macarena. Checking the cluster should be a no brainer. Then again not many people realize you have the highest chance of killing someone or dying while driving. Everyone's distracted these days or just don't care on the road.

Not trying to be a dick at all just my 2 cents.

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Senor_Taylor Wrote:Is this common to have it on the dash? Must be a new car thing because the only automatics I've driven with it on the dash were pickups with the shifter on the tree.

SlimKlim Wrote:You're also a massive car nerd.

An overworked mother of 3 doesn't expect to have to verify that her Grand Cherokee is in park, when for her entire driving career she slams the shifter thing in its most forward and/or up position and gets out of the car knowing its not going to go anywhere. I think it's one of those things that seems incredibly simple and easy to avoid, because it kind of is. Then you think of how 99% of people use their cars, how they have developed a muscle memory of slamming something in park over the last 20-40 years and being able to trust that it's not going anywhere, you can't blame someone for doing the same thing in one of these cars and popping out.

I normally land on the side of "the consumer is the problem" with stuff like this, but I think in this case manufacturers have the responsibility to make sure they are selling idiot proof designs. Being thoughtless or in a hurry or not-enough-of-a-car-nerd shouldn't be punishable by death.

BLINGMW Wrote:Only the government mandated 6 speed manual shifter with reverse up and to the left will be allowed.

Sully Wrote:Part of the problem is we as a society don't allow natural selection anymore. Back in the day, if you were stupid enough to do that, you probably died and society carried on with only people who weren't that stupid. Now we catered to those stupid people and change the way things work so people can't Darwin themselves. And now we have a bunch of stupid people (ie: see 2016 presidential candidates that people actually think are a good idea)

G.Irish Wrote:Do more stupid people survive than would have before? Probably, but a stupid person today is probably a lot smarter than the average person 100 years ago, so maybe it's a net gain. However, it's probably easier for stupid people to assemble in large groups and create bigger fuckups now than it was earlier in history.

G.Irish Wrote:, or internet porn.

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