[shorod]

The mechanical linkages and physical size and materials to make the old school floor and column gear shifters add complexity, cost (material), weight, and limit the ability to include, interestingly enough, safety features. A "happy median" might be to do like some manufacturers and use a dinky little stick or lever that moves like a more traditional shift lever but takes up much less space, is still electronic in function, but may be deemed less confusing.

I have the rotary shift knob in my Ram and honestly I don't find it the least bit confusing. The shift pattern is just like a standard column shifter, PRND. Lower gears can be selected via buttons on the steering wheel. Instead of using my entire hand on a long lever to rotate the gear selection knob, I use two fingers. The muscle memory is the same.

The biggest issue I've had so far with the shift knob is that it's in the same general vicinity as the radio knob, which since I'm somewhat old school too I tend to use versus only the steering wheel volume buttons. There have been times that I've grabbed the shift know instead of the volume knob. However the size of the knobs and the texture is significantly different and I have yet to inadvertently turn the shift knob instead of the volume knob.

Distracted driving and always being in a rush are probably bigger factors in people forgetting to make sure their vehicle is in park versus the means of putting it in park. At least with these new technologies, it can be relatively easy to fix the issue with a software change to check the brake pedal input, gear selected, and door ajar switch and automatically engage the electric parking brake (in some vehicles) or command the transmission to Park and alert the driver that the selector is not in Park. The old school mechanical column and floor shifters cannot be made more safe through software.

I think that's the root of the lawsuit - Range Rover/Jaguar is not pushing such a software fix for what appears to be a known issue. How many people had cars, trucks, tractors, etc. roll over them in the old school times though because the operator forgot to properly prepare the vehicle for exiting? Back then though, folks were probably embarrassed to admit they screwed up. And they understood that they shouldn't blame someone else for their lack of common sense.

-Rod