I keep cars in watchtowers. Two towers open end to open end. If a car is centered inside these towers, then the car can become inaccessible as the towers take precedence over the car.
Being able to push cars helped with this scenario, but if the car was left in gear, this no longer becomes an option.
One solution is to have the cars start in neutral upon server restart. This would allow pushing of the car.
Park car near tree or inside two watchtowers.
Exit car.
Try to reenter car.
This is as intended, see the DayZ 1.24 changelogs:
It was possible to push a car while a gear was clutched
It's completely logical. Try to push a car while it's in gear IRL -> you can't. You also shouldn't be able to do this in game so it's fine like it is now.
I 100% agree that a car should not be allowed to be pushed when left in gear. But in most scenarios the car is high centered on a rock or fallen tree. In my case the car is inaccessible, meaning I cannot get back in the car once I leave. So I cannot put the car in neutral.