[ccjohnson]

Many many years ago when I was taking 3 of my young children on a boondocking fishing trip in my old Monaco Executive a similar thing occurred. We had left late at night and when I got tired we pulled into a wide area in the center of a rather tight curve in the road which served as a parking area for folks going on day hikes to see some of the sights in the area. When I woke everyone up I fixed the kids cereal for breakfast. I went outside to check the fluids etc before starting off on the rest of the trip. The executive was a front engine gasser on a GMC chassis. When I was opening the front panel to access the engine compartment, I looked up and saw my smiling 4 year old daughter standing in the driver's seat waving and watching me. Remember, at this point, the Executive is a 1982 model. No ignition, steering wheel, shifter interlock. Imagine my horror as I watched in slow motion her small hand taking hold of the shift lever and easing it out of park. As the coach started to roll backwards, I first tried in vain to hold it back by hanging onto the front end of it. The only thing I could se in my mind was the caoch rolling backwards across the highway and down an embankment on the other side of the roadway. I give full credit to the Lord for seeing to it that the parking area was somewhat of a bowl. The coach did not get enough inertia to make it out of the parking area. I will assure you all that I have been very diligent about using the parking brake since then. As well as teaching the kids not to touch anything in the driver area of a vehicle unless they understand what it is for.