Automatic Transmission problems of the 1997 Mercury Mountaineer

I had just gotten into the driver's seat of my parked 1997 Mercury Mountaineer at an auto repair shop lot when I remembered that I needed to retrieve an article from underneath the seat. I got out of the vehicle and knelt down next to it. As I reached under the seat, the car door hit me and dragged me along the ground. I then realized the vehicle was not only moving in reverse but was picking up speed, as it was on a slight incline. I knew I could not stop this heavy SUV; I also saw that its left front tire was heading right for me. I was then a 60-year-old female who had played sports and was still in good physical condition. I did a football-style tuck and rolled away from the Mountaineer to avoid getting run over. The vehicle stopped moving only after hitting another parked and unoccupied vehicle: the pickup truck that belonged to the owner of the auto repair shop. Local police investigated and found no human error or fault; no ticket was issued. Also, while I suffered some scrapes and bruises I did not need emt or hospital attention. I reported this first-ever accident to my auto insurance company, but the adjuster expressed no interest in following up on what I and the auto repair shop owner still believe to be its root cause: a Ford SUV transmission design flaw that allows for slippage out of park position under inexplicable conditions, such as pavement incline and/or motor vibration. No transmission parts were damaged or replaced on this vehicle because of this incident; nor has there been a repeat of this problem.

While vehicle was parked on an incline with ignition running vehcile jumped into reverse and went about 300 feet and hit 2 parked vehicles.