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Ford Admits That Crown Vic Failed Crash Test

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#1 ·
Dallas Official Questions Why Ford Can Provide Safer Technology to Civilian 'Protection' Car, but Not To Police

DALLAS, Feb. 28 -- The following press release is being issued by the Dallas City Attorney's Office:

Ford Motor Company officials have admitted in sworn testimony that a Crown Victoria police car equipped with new fuel tank safety shields actually flunked its own crash test.

This disclosure and others were made today by Dallas City Attorney Madeleine Johnson, who is suing Ford in an attempt to discover whether Ford's popular police cruiser is safe. Fourteen law enforcement officers have died in Crown Victoria fuel-fed fires after being rear-ended at high speeds.

Ford announced on September 27 that it would install fuel tank shields on some 350,000 Crown Victoria police cars, touting a crash test that it claimed showed the shields to be effective at speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. A Ford official acknowledged in a deposition taken last month, however, that the crash-tested tank actually leaked more than 40 ounces of a fuel substitute known as Stoddard. Federal standards limit fuel tank leaks in crash tests to no more than one ounce.

"Instead of the success that Ford claimed, the crash test was an abject failure and seriously calls into question Ford's claims that the new fuel tank shields are enough to solve Crown Vic fuel tank safety problems," Johnson said.

Johnson emphasized that even small fuel tank punctures can touch off fiery explosions since the fuel is expelled under pressure in the form of an aerosol-like mist and quickly forms a vapor cloud that engulfs the vehicle.

"We are all too familiar with this kind of tragedy -- we recently lost a member of our own family this way," Johnson said, referring to the death of Dallas Police Officer Patrick Metzler on October 23 after his cruiser exploded when it was rear-ended.

Dallas patrol cars have been equipped with the new shields, which obviously offer some protection from fuel tank puncture, Johnson noted. "But I will continue to press for answers from Ford officials about why they persisted with the shield 'fix' in light of the shield's failure to withstand impacts at high speeds, as well as why they have rejected other technologies offering greater protection," Johnson said.

For example, Johnson noted, Ford has announced that it will begin production soon of a $140,000 Lincoln Town Car with a fuel tank that self- seals if punctured. The new Lincoln "Ballistic Protection Series" is designed to resist high-powered rifles and offer limited bomb-blast protection. It has been in development for about two years, according to Ford.

This same technology was presented to a Ford technical task force last summer as a possible guard against Crown Victoria police car fuel tank punctures. It was rejected as not being production-ready, according to Ford documents and testimony.

"If this technology is now available -- and, clearly, it has been for some time -- why hasn't Ford offered this protection to police officers?" said Johnson. "As the leader in the police vehicle market, Ford has a big responsibility to say to law enforcement 'Your cars are as safe -- or safer -- than any other vehicle we make.'"

Johnson also raised concerns about Ford's promise of special trunk packs for police vehicles to guard against heavy objects that might be propelled through the trunk and into the fuel tank in a rear-end collision. Johnson said Ford announced just today that it will produce only 12,500 of the safety packs every year, although there are about 300,000 affected vehicles on the road. Meanwhile, there still is no delivery date for the packs, which were promised by the end of 2002, she noted.

Until the packs become available, Johnson advised law enforcement agencies to remove hard objects or long rigid objects, such as universal four-armed lug wrenches, from their trunks. Only last month, a Texas Department of Public Safety vehicle operating in Bee County suffered a tank puncture when the corner of a videotape mounting bracket punctured the tank.

"It is shocking to learn that the tank, as designed, can be punctured by ordinary radios and electronic equipment," Johnson said. "Currently, we are trying to find out whether the trunk pack will accommodate this necessary police equipment."

The deaths of Officer Robert Smith of Florida in 1997, Officer Hung Le of Louisiana in 1998, and Officer Skip Fink of Arizona in 2000 all involved Crown Victoria fuel tanks that exploded after being punctured by items in the vehicles' trunks.

Johnson said depositions also revealed that the trunk packs, which include a Kevlar sheet, will cost $210 each -- four times Ford's original estimate. Ford has indicated that it does not intend to pay for the trunk packs, but that law enforcement agencies must cover expense, instead.

"Ford is obligated to provide trunk safety kits to police agencies free of charge, and we will continue to press Ford on this issue," Johnson said.

Ford has claimed repeatedly that the technology does not exist to protect fuel tanks from punctures or leaks in high-speed, rear end crashes. Johnson said that depositions have confirmed that Ford has refused consistently to adopt fuel tank safety technology that is readily available from numerous sources. The Crown Victoria, which was manufactured 24 years ago, has the oldest unchanged design of any car on the market. The longer a car is marketed without a design change, the more profitable it is for the manufacturer.

Johnson said that depositions also reveal a startling lack of action on Ford's part to design a "fix" for the fuel tank problems that addresses the types of fuel tank damage that have led to fires and deaths.

"If I sound frustrated with Ford, it's because I am," said Johnson. "They say one thing in public and another in sworn testimony. We've been at this for months, and we aren't at all sure that our officers are any safer."

The City of Dallas and others suing Ford over the Crown Victoria police cars are gathering sworn testimony from Ford officials as part of a consolidated discovery process before a federal judge in Cleveland. Johnson filed suit against Ford seeking Crown Victoria safety information last December in the wake of Officer Metzler's death.
 
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#2 ·
Other safety measures in the works for Crown Victorias

March 3, 2003
BY JOEL STASHENKO
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALBANY, N.Y. -- State Police officials are retrofitting safety devices on an allegedly fire-prone model of the Ford Crown Victoria, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pushes for that and other safety devices to be installed on all such police cruisers.

The Crown Victoria accounts for about 80 percent of police cars nationwide.

All 1,000 Crown Victoria Interceptors in New York's State Police fleet have been retrofitted with a $27 plastic shield that goes around the gas tank of the vehicle and is supposed to inhibit fires during accidents.

Last week, Clinton sought to require more monitoring and safety improvements to the estimated 350,000 Crown Victoria police cars nationwide.

"Every hour of every day, hundreds of thousands of men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line to protect us from harm," the New York Democrat wrote in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. "We should do all we can to ensure that as our law enforcement officers do their jobs, they are not to be put unnecessarily in harm's way."

State Police Superintendent James McMahon said Ford Motor Co. is developing a fuel bladder to go inside the gas tank of the vehicle to inhibit puncturing in an accident. NASCAR race cars have a similar bladder, he said.

Ford is also working on a device that would cover vulnerable areas of the fuel system with fire-surpressing powder in case of an accident, and on a lining unit for the trunk of the Crown Victoria. That would keep items policemen carry in the back of patrol cars from slicing through the rear wall of a vehicle and into the fuel tank in case of a violent blow from behind, McMahon said.

According to the superintendent, State Police are also "looking at other vehicles" for use as patrol cars, though the Crown Victoria dominates the market because of its roomy interior and full steel-frame construction.

Trooper Jeff Kayser, car committee chairman for New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said the force must incorporate any retrofits that would improve the safety of Crown Victorias.

"We expressed our concern to him (McMahon) that the cars aren't safe enough and there is technology that needs to be added to the cars aftermarket," Kayser said. "Obviously, it's going to cost them some money. But we stop people every day on the side of the road. It's a huge issue for our people. Money shouldn't be an issue. Can you place a value on the life of a trooper?"

In addition to the Crown Victorias, the State Police have perhaps 100 other vehicles, including Chevrolet Camaros and some four-wheel-drive vehicles, a spokesman said.

On Dec. 19, Trooper Robert Ambrose was killed in a fiery crash when a Jeep going about 90 mph struck the Crown Victoria he sat in on the side of the State Thruway in Yonkers from behind.

The driver of the Jeep, whom McMahon said was intoxicated, also died.

McMahon called Ambrose's death a "tremendous tragedy." The trooper's family is suing Ford for $250 million, contending negligence in manufacturing the Crown Victoria.

Ford defends the vehicle, saying it has performed admirably for thousands of police forces throughout the country. Company spokesmen have also pointed out the 13 police officers who died in the Crown Victoria in recent memory perished after they were hit by vehicles going at least 70 mph.

"Our sympathy goes out to the officers' families, but we do not believe any other comparable vehicles' fuel tanks could have survived the severity of these impacts," the company said in a recent statement.

The Crown Victoria also has the government's five-star crash rating, the highest available, Ford said.

At a legislative hearing in New York last week, state Republican Sen. Dale Volker said most people who talk about protecting policemen from the kind of high-speed crash that killed Ambrose don't understand the issue.

Volker, who said he investigated many fatal auto accidents as an Erie County sheriff's deputy, asked McMahon, "Did you ever remember an accident when a car was hit at 90 mph and someone survived?"

"It's not often," McMahon, a 37-year veteran of the State Police, replied.

"That's the problem with this kind of issue," Volker said. "Any car hit at 90 mph, and you're in it, the chance of survival is nil."
 
#3 ·
Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Activists attack Ford gas-tank fix

Consumer groups claim secret recall in effect for sedans

By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau

DETROIT -- A consumer advocacy group is pressing four states to enforce "secret warranty" laws against Ford Motor Co. over repairs to its Crown Victoria sedan.

The Washington-based Center for Auto Safety alleges that Ford is offering fuel tank shield kits for the Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car at a price below the company's cost -- a practice some watchdog groups say amounts to an unannounced, secret safety campaign.

California, Wisconsin, Virginia and Connecticut all have warranty laws designed to force manufacturers to admit safety or quality problems and notify customers about repair campaigns.

The Crown Victoria has come under scrutiny from law enforcement agencies and safety officials following deadly fires involving police officers driving the Crown Victoria Police Inceptor. At least a dozen officers have perished in fires after high-speed rear-impact collisions involving the Crown Victoria since 1996.

"Civilians ride at risk of a rear collision fire in the Crown Victorias," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. "They deserve to have the same protection police officers do."

Ditlow said he was raising the issue because the $105 repair kit Ford is offering to civilians appears to be at least partially subsidized by the company. Ditlow compared the fuel-tank shields with plastic bumper covers that cost $300 or more.

Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said the cost of the fuel-tank kits were not being subsidized. The kits are offered to consumers at cost, like any other enhancement, she said.

Ford denies there is a problem with the cars and says it is offering the repair kits only to civilians who request it. The company estimates the risk of a fire-related death is at least 1,000 times as great for a police officer than for a civilian.

Kinley said Ford would have no further comment until company executives reviewed the center's request and the laws in the four states.

"Obviously, we will comply with any law," Kinley said.

Warranty laws vary from state to state, but they usually include a requirement that a company notify every consumer of the availability of a repair and a fine, Ditlow said.

In a related matter, Dallas city attorney Madeleine Johnson, based on a deposition in the city's lawsuit with Ford, is charging that the Crown Vic police cruiser repair kits have failed an internal company crash test.

Johnson said a shield-protected tank leaked 40 ounces of fuel in a company crash test, according to a Ford official deposed in a city lawsuit over police cruiser safety. Federal rules allow fuel tanks to leak up to 1 ounce in crash tests, Johnson said.

But Kinley said the 75-mph crash test Ford conducted was designed to measure only whether the tank would suffer a puncture, and it did not.

Kinley said the 1-ounce government performance standard applies to a 30-mph crash test, not the 75-mph test that Ford conducted.
 

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