A Mother Jones Classic: "For seven years the Ford Motor Company sold cars in which it knew hundreds of people would needlessly burn to death."
- Mark Dowie
Multiple rear impact collisions with the Ford Pinto have resulted in loss of life. The following three incidents are examples of the types of accidents that resulted in loss of life.
Incident 1
“In May 1972, Lily Gray was traveling with thirteen year old Richard Grimshaw in a 1972 Pinto when their car was struck by another car traveling approximately thirty miles per hour. The impact ignited a fire in the Pinto which killed Lily Gray and left Richard Grimshaw with devastating injuries” (Leggett 1999).
Incident 2
“On August 10, 1978, three teenage girls stopped to refuel the 1973 Ford Pinto sedan they were driving. After filling up, the driver loosely reapplied the gas cap which subsequently fell off as they headed down U. S. Highway 33. Trying to retrieve the cap, the girls stopped in the right lane of the highway shoulder since there was no space on the highway for cars to safely pull off the roadway. Shortly thereafter, a van weighing over 4000 pounds and modified with a rigid plank for a front bumper was traveling at fifty five miles an hour and struck the stopped Pinto. The two passengers died at the scene when the car burst into flames. The driver was ejected and died shortly thereafter in the hospital” (Leggett 1999).
Incident 3
“The Pinto’s fuel system design and the decision to delay upgrading it’s integrity created a major public backlash, which was heightened by the dramatic criminal trial of Ford Motor Co. in connection of the death by fire of three young women” (Birsch & Fielder 1994). On August 10, 1978, the Ford’s fuel design system contributed to the death of three women “when their car was hit by another vehicle traveling at a relatively low speed by a man driving with open beer bottles, marijuana, caffeine pills and capsules of "speed." The fact that Ford had chosen earlier not to upgrade the fuel system design became an issue of public debate as a result of this case.” (Leggett 1999).
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Based on the Crash tests that had been done, Ford knew the Pinto posed a serious fire hazard. One of Ford's former engineers testified that the highest levels of management at Ford understood the danger but decided against making changes due to the potential costs.
There are legal grounds for performing a cost-benefit analysis. In the 1947 case of United States v. Carroll Towing Co., Judge Hand effectively devised the cost-benefit analysis to help decide future cases. (Leggett) Additionally, the NHTSA, a federal agency, approved the use of a cost-benefit analysis for determining car design safety standards. For the purpose of its cost-benefit analysis, Ford determined the value of human life at $200,000 per fatality. Thus, the decision to issue a recall and install the necessary safety measures was weighed mathematically against the benefit of preventing a certain projected number of deaths. The value of human life calculation and cost-benefit analysis ended up as follows:
Human Life Valuation:
Cost-Benefit Analysis:
Ford projected a cost of $137 million to fix the problem with only a $49.5 million benefit (notice that Ford's projection was based on the prediction of 2,100 burned vehicles and 180 burn deaths). Ford determined that it would be much more costly to fix the problem in its entirety than to pay for the few cases that resulted from its poor design. “The Ford Motor Company's risk/benefit analysis indicated costs would be 2.5 times larger than the resulting benefits” (Legget). Ultimately, Ford decided not to implement the fixes in the development stages and continued to forgo the fixes once the car was on the road. (Birsch)
An eventual NHTSA investigation noted awareness of "38 cases of rear-end collisions and fires in Pintos that resulted in 27 fatalities and 24 cases of non-fatal burns" (Birsch, p.9). Because these figures are based on lawsuits brought against Ford, it is likely that there were more fires and deaths than listed above. While Ford estimates the Pinto being involved in 35 rear-impact fires, some critics estimate the number may be as high as several hundred. (Birsch)
(Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcNeorjXMrE)
(Top Photo: http://www.engineering.com/content/community/library/ethics/fordpinto/images/image003.jpg)
(Bottom Photo: http://imcdb.org/images/022/674.jpg)