Cant get the gear out of park without manual override or turning on headlights?

[taylormah]

On my 1996 automatic transmission ford escort, once I put the car in park, I cant get it out of park unless I do a manual override by inserting a pin the the hole next to the gear stick. Normally I should be able to depress the break pedal and it would lit up the dashboard backlights and release the solenoid. But now, nothing happens when I press the break pedal - dashboard backlights dont lit-up and solenoid doesn't click, so gear shift gets stuck in park. But if I turn the headlamps on, it lights up the dashboard lights, I hear the solenoid click sound, and gear shift easily moves out of park. So for now, whenever I have to get the car out of park, I either do manual override of gear or turn the headlamps on. I cant pin point where lies the problem. It feels as if the electrical connection between break pedal and the gear box is broken, but I am no expert. Can you guys speculate what could be the problem?

[ElectrolysisDoc]

The first thing to check is: Do your brake lights work? You may have a blown brake light fuse. Check that first!

[taylormah]

Originally Posted by ElectrolysisDoc

The first thing to check is: Do your brake lights work? You may have a blown brake light fuse. Check that first!

I checked that, and the lights are working. So I am speculating could it be the brake switch??