I have a 2014 Charger with
I have a 2014 Charger with the same 8 speed transmission. My car has the specific gear shift that led to this safety feature, as did the Jeep that killed that actor. Your Ram 1500 don't need this feature to be honest but it was needed in the Chargers and Jeeps. The difference being that my gear shift has 3 positions, a forward, a backwards and a center position. When I move the gear shift forward or backwards it always springs back into the center position. So what happens is that from Drive I push it forward and feel 3 steps as it moves through Neutral, Reverse, then Park then the handle returns to the center position once you let go of the handle (You have to look at the indicator light on the dash or the gear shift to see what is actually selected). If one were not careful and release it to soon it will only be in Reverse when they think its in Park. Add the fact that the car has a push button start/stop some people were putting their car in Reverse, thinking it was in Park and then pushing the engine stop button thinking they shut the engine off and getting out of their cars while it was still in Reverse and with the engine still running as the stop switch doesn't shut off the engine in Reverse. This safety feature protects people by switching to Park if they open their door while in Reverse (or Drive) if they are going under a certain speed. So now you know the thinking of why this is in the Rams with that gear shift.