After 43 operations, cop caught in blaze is rebuilding his face, life
December 9, 2003
BY JENNIFER DIXON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
PHOENIX -- Jason Schechterle was burned so badly when his Crown Victoria Police Interceptor caught fire that the flames mangled his hands, seared away most of his nose and ears and scorched his brown eyes, leaving him blind for seven months.
Ford Motor Co. did not do right by its customers in its initial response to deadly fires in Crown Victoria police cars. As reported in Monday and today's Free Press, Ford appears to have spent more energy trying to convince police agencies and government regulators that there was no problem with the cars than in addressing the genuine fears of police using them.
Mechanics work to stop officers' fiery deaths in Crown Victorias DETROIT FREE PRESS December 9, 2003 By Jennifer Dixon Free Press Staff Writer
Last of two parts.
Mike Fuson was tired of waiting for help from Ford Motor Co. By the summer of 2001, two Arizona troopers were dead. A Phoenix cop was in the hospital, comatose and badly burned. They all had one thing in common: Their Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor had caught fire when it was hit from behind.
DETROIT FREE PRESS December 8, 2003 By Jennifer Dixon Free Press Staff Writer
For law enforcement officers, the Ford Crown Victoria is the police car of choice. Eighty-five percent of cop cars on the road are the Crown Vic Police Interceptor, the heavy-duty, police version of the sedan.
Officers praise it as being rugged and responsive. With a V8 engine and rear-wheel drive, the Crown Vic handles well during pursuits, as they navigate harrowing turns or bounce between curb and street, police say.
The Free Press met with Ford Motor Co. representatives Oct. 30to discuss the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor's safety record. Following are excerpts from comments made by Sue Cischke, vice president for environmental and safety engineering at Ford.
PEOPLE HAVE DIED in every vehicle out there. There's not a nameplate vehicle out there that people haven't died in, but does that make it an issue?
HERE'S A VEHICLE that's been out there from 1992 to 2003 -- 350,000 of them, we believe, on the road.
DETROIT FREE PRESS December 8, 2003 By Jennifer Dixon Free Press Staff Writer
The Ford Crown Victoria, the Lincoln Town Car and the Mercury Grand Marquis are an old breed of big, traditional rear-wheel-drive sedans. All three vehicles get five stars from the federal government for holding up in front-end crashes, and at least four of five stars for side-impact crashes. The Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria also get top crash ratings from the well-respected Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is funded by the insurance industry.
Analysis finds more fatal, fiery wrecks DETROIT FREE PRESS December 8, 2003 By Jennifer Dixon and Megan Christensen Free Press Staff Writers
When federal regulators cleared the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car of any safety defects last fall, they blamed fiery rear-impact crashes for just 16 deaths in sedans built between 1992 and 2001. But the Free Press has found that about 30 people died in fiery rear-end crashes in the vehicles during that time -- and at least 69 have perished since Ford Motor Co. launched the Panther platform in 1979.
After 43 operations, cop caught in blaze is rebuilding his face, life
