PURPOSE: To enhance resistance to shear loading by bringing the forward (reverse) surfaces of parking teeth into continuous engagement with a working gear when a forward (reverse) rotating bias is imposed on the working gear under a parking condition, and operatively selecting a parking condition so that the teeth of a pawl are moved into engagement with the working gear.

CONSTITUTION: A parking pawl 74 is pivotally mounted to the wall 76 of a transmission for engagement by a parking mechanism 75 with a reverse driven gear 48. With a forward bias applied to the reverse gear 48 in the direction of Arrow A, the teeth 80A, 80B of the parking pawl 74 begin engagement with the teeth 78A, 78B of the gear 48. After a parking maneuver has been fully reached, teeth 80C, 80D make contact with the gear 48 when sufficient load to deform the teeth 78, 80A, 80B is applied to the teeth 78. The application of a reverse bias to the gear 48 in the direction of Arrow B also engages the teeth in the same way. Since the teeth of the parking pawl come into continuous contact, ratcheting forces are distributed over the four teeth of the parking pawl, thereby reducing load on the teeth during engagement.