Enhanced vehicle securement system

A computer-implemented method of operating a vehicle system having an automatic vehicle securement feature to prevent a vehicle from driving away, the vehicle including a shifter configured to move the vehicle between Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive (PRND) positions, a brake system controller configured to selectively engage and disengage a park pawl, an occupant restraint controller configured to determine a buckled or unbuckled status of a driver seat belt, a body computer configured to determine if a driver door is ajar or removed from the vehicle, a driver presence sensor configured to determine a driver presence within the vehicle, a radio frequency hub module (RFHM) configured to detect a key status of a key associated with the vehicle, and a controller having one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the method comprising:

• detecting, by the controller, the key associated with the vehicle;
• detecting, by the body computer, if the driver door is ajar or removed;
• initiating, by the controller, the automatic vehicle securement feature, if (i) requested by a user, or (ii) if the shifter is moved to Park and the driver door is ajar or removed, and engaging the park pawl to thereby prevent the vehicle from driving away;
• monitoring, by the controller, the driver presence sensor;
• physically locking the shifter, by the controller, while the vehicle is in Park and keeping the park pawl engaged without regard to a requested non-park state from the shifter, if (i) the driver presence transitions to ‘not present’ or (ii) the key status indicates the key status transitions to ‘not present’;
• requesting, by the controller, a key search if the driver presence transitions to ‘present’;
• and
• disengaging the park pawl in response to the requested non-park state from the shifter when the requested key search indicates the key is ‘present’.