On a mid 90's F250, there is a nice solenoid that releases the shifter to get out of park. Since I knew a case where it caused a problem like yours. I just pulled out that solenoid and tied it out of the way. As I didn't need that happening ever.
The worse things to deal with on any car or? is safety crap and theft crap. Its all good when it works good, but is a mess when it does not and it seems to fail at the worse times possible.
At least most cars have an over ride of some sort, Ford? Not the one I mentioned.