Today, my daughter parked her 2018 CX-5 GT with 32,000 km on my very slightly inclined driveway, put it into Park, turned off the engine and got out to get her toddler out of the back seat. I was 10 feet away watching. Before she got her door closed, the car started rolling backward. It stopped in a few feet when it hit a snow berm but those few seconds were pretty scary. The first thing she did was check the shifter and confirm that it was, indeed, in Park. No, she did not engage the parking brake. This is a pretty serious occurrence. The potential for serious injury or death is real. I know many people who do not use the electronic parking brake with an automatic transmission. Not wise, but it's very common, especially with drivers who have never driven a manual transmission.

I've searched for any hint of a recall without success. But I did come up with a couple of other reports of the same thing happening.

Has anyone on this forum experienced the their CX-5 rolling while in Park?

 

Simples; always use the E brake; it's not there as an optional extra.
If the car struck someone, and it was found she'd not applied the parking brake, she'd be found guilty of negligence.$$$$

 

The transmission is not designed to hold the vehicle stationary.

 

Although it's certainly a good practice to ALWAYS use your parking brake there's no way that one would be held accountable, and negligent, if the car was properly placed in park and the car rolled because of a malfunction and caused someone injury or damage.

EDIT

After thinking about his a lil more I believe that if it could be proven that you knew that your transmission was malfunctioning and would not hold your car while in park and your car caused damage or injury to someone, then perhaps you could be held liable.

 

Really? I rarely if ever use the parking brake on both the '19 I had and the '21 I have now. It has never rolled while in park. I suspect there is an issue with the transmission in the OP's car. May still be under warranty.

 

My understanding is that the whole reason you put it in park is the transmission engages a pawl to keep it from rolling. I have heard stories of parking pawls breaking from misuse, but they are stories only, typically from repeated parking on hills and not using the parking brake. You have probably felt this strain on the pawl if you have ever parked on a hill, and not set the parking brake before moving the transmission shifter to park. The car rolls slightly until motion is stopped by resting against the pawl. When you start the car, it physically more difficult to move the shifter lever because the car has rolled against the pawl and is binding as you attempt to shift it out of park.
Parking Pawl

I am sure others will correct my understanding.

 

I’D love to hear an automotive transmission engineer’s opinion on your statement. I think the transmission parking pawl must be engineered/designed to hold the vehicle stationary, otherwise what is it’s purpose. But you’re preaching to the converted when you say one should always use the electronic parking brake. I always do and so does my daughter, usually. Still, for the car to be able to roll away when in Park, something is not right.

This may be some scenario with keyless systems and Start/Stop buttons. Remember when the “old” keyed ignition systems wouldn’t let you take the key out if the transmission was not properly engaged in Park? Her gear selector was in Park when she shut off the engine and exited the car.

 

Well said!

Also, if a car is parked on a hill, and the incline is steep enough while not setting the parking brake properly, it may be nearly impossible to take the car out of park until the pressure is removed from the parking pawl. In this case there's only one way to remove the pressure and that would require the car to be pushed up the hill slightly. Not a good prospect.

On top of the above, if your car was parked, incline or flat ground, and you didn't have the parking brake set and someone bumped your car from the front or rear with sufficient force, it could damage your transmission.

 

If the parking brake is required each time the vehicle is parked, then why doesn't the brake engage automatically when the vehicle is in park and novweight is detected in the driver's seat? It seems like the NHTSA would be all over that. Growing up in the "olden days", we were warned about cables stretching and to use the brake when parking on an incline in case of transmission malfunction or a child or pet accidentally bumping the shifter out of park. Never have I ever heard of a requirement yo set the brake to avoid liability although it could be seen as contributory negligence possibly. The insurance industry would be all over this as well. We'd see PSAs warning people to always set the parking brake to save lives.

​​​​​​IF Mazda requires the brake be engaged, itvwould make a point of it in big bold letters to reduce the company's liability.

 

I've not experienced a problem with rolling in park. My garage is level, so I don't use the parking brake after getting home. I use it everywhere else, as others have mentioned it can be tough to get any car out of park if you have parked on a hill. I figure it gives you some protection if another car contacts it in a parking lot, I don't what it might take to damage the transmission. I have always been told to be cautious about using the parking brake in cold weather, water might freeze and lock up the parking brake. With electric parking brakes, I don't know if this is still an issue, old cable activated brakes could freeze, though.