Park

Automatic Transmission Park Gear & Pawl

Masked men, presumably ICE agents, pulled two guys out of an Uber last week. Okay, that's ICE doing their job, or some cartel thugs doing theirs. But this is what caught my eye:

"They ordered her to unlock the doors, which the car did automatically when she put it in park. The agents then opened the back doors of the vehicle and ordered the men to get out."

Seems to me most cars will unlock the door when you open it from the inside. I've encountered a couple of cars where you had to specifically unlock the door before you could open it, but I don't think I've ever encountered a car that unlocked the doors automatically. Strikes me as the very opposite of safe. On the other hand, when I get out of the car and I go to get something out of the backseat, I have to unlock the doors and half the time I've already closed the driver's door so I have to open the driver's door back up, or I have to root around in my pocket for the stupid key fob.

Ask Google about this and I get this back:

Many modern cars can be programmed to automatically unlock doors when shifting to PARK, but it is not universal and depends on the vehicle's make, model, and settings. While some cars unlock upon shifting to Park, others only unlock when the engine is turned off or when the driver's door is opened. This feature is often configurable in the vehicle's infotainment settings menu. 

I suspect this is just another bit of marketing twerps trying to accommodate people who are not in tune with the mechanical world, i. e. the vast majority.