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Stacy94PGT · 09-05-2002, 20:22

Safety group wants recall of Ford Crown Victoria

Reuters / September 05, 2002

WASHINGTON -- A consumer and legal research group pressed Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday to recall the Crown Victoria police cruiser, some of which have been engulfed by deadly fuel-tank fires after high-speed crashes.

At least 12 police officers have been killed and nine others hurt in fires triggered by fuel tanks that ruptured in rear or side collisions in the past 10 years, safety advocates said.

The toll, including three deaths in Arizona, prompted complaints from state and local governments, which favor the large rear-wheel drive sedan for use by law enforcement. Ford has said that an estimated 400,000 are in service as police cars nationwide.

"We are here to demand that Ford recall the Crown Victoria and begin installing available technology for the protection of law officers," said David Perry, a Corpus Christi, Texas, attorney who represents some families of officers killed or hurt in these crashes.

Perry, who spoke at a news conference, is also the point man on the issue for Safetyforum.Com, a research group that assists plaintiff attorneys in product suits. There are about a dozen individual and class action cases against Ford over the Crown Victoria fuel tank issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began a review of Crown Victoria safety complaints last November. But a spokesman for that agency said there has been no decision on whether to launch a formal investigation and no timetable to make such a determination.

Safetyforum aggressively promoted a fuel tank bladder designed to prevent fuel from leaking from a tank damaged in high-speed crashes. Safetyforum also recommended that Ford install a panel that engulfs the tank with a fire-retardant powder after a rear-end collision.

The group said independent testing has shown that both devices work."Proven, readily available technology in use in this country can protect these vehicles at impact speeds approaching 100 mph," Perry said.

Ford officials, in a statement and in interviews, stressed that the company was moving ahead with a safety initiative announced in June for the Crown Victoria. But the company said there was no quick fix to resolve "the complex challenges" posed by crashes at extremely high speeds.

"Ford accepts the challenge to look for additional opportunities to make the vehicle and the police-working environment even safer in very high-risk situations," said Sue Cischke, Ford's vice president of environmental and safety engineering.

Sarah Tatchio, a Ford spokeswoman, said the company has conducted hundreds of tests this summer on fire suppression and other fuel tank safety enhancements. She also said Ford will receive two fuel tank bladders from a supplier next week. But she said those devices have flaws that need to be evaluated.

"We're absolutely open-minded about looking at bladders," Tatchio said. "We don't believe it's a solution sitting on a shelf as it was presented today." Ford said last month that it could not obtain bladders because the supplier had none to spare while it filled orders from police departments.

The company hopes to complete its safety review by the end of the month, but whether that produces in any recommendations or other action was unclear.

Some of the deadly crashes cited by safety advocates involved police cars that were stopped on the side of a highway. Ford is also examining strategies to make police safer during traffic stops, including better warning lights and roadside parking techniques.