Issues

Trial Puts Spotlight on Safety of Car Seats

August 1, 2005

$106 million judgment against Chrysler and new safety studies intensify the debate over federal standards.

WASHINGTON — A massive jury verdict against DaimlerChrysler and some new studies have placed a spotlight o­n a little-debated safety issue — how well seats protect occupants when a vehicle is struck from behind.

Court revives warranty suit against Mercedes

August 1, 2005

By Eric Freedman
Automotive News / August 01, 2005

Groups applaud auto safety provisions in highway bill

August 1, 2005


WASHINGTON — Auto safety groups said Friday a highway and transit bill approved by Congress would help deter drunken driving, encourage states to pass primary seat belt laws and lead to safer vehicles.

The safety provisions, part of a massive $286.4 billion transportation bill, offers an assortment of incentives and new requirements aimed at reducing crashes along the nation’s highways at a time when more than 42,000 people are killed on the road every year.

E.P.A. Holds Back Report on Car Fuel Efficiency

August 1, 2005

By DANNY HAKIM

DETROIT, July 27 – With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the Environmental Protection Agency made an 11th-hour decision Tuesday to delay the planned release of an annual report on fuel economy.

Jury deliberating case against Ford

August 1, 2005

By Marilyn Tennissen -The News staff writer

BEAUMONT – A family outing on a hot summer day two years ago ended in tragedy for a Port Neches family when 3-year-old Cade Wright was killed in the parking lot of a crowded sno-cone stand.

The family is now in the midst of a lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, claiming that the toddler’s death could have been prevented if the 2001 Ford Expedition that backed over him had been equipped with ultrasonic rear sensors.

Danger Under the Hood

July 21, 2005

A little girl dies; attention turns to a faulty Ford part

More than 500 fires reported in pickups, SUVs; probe centers on cruise-control switch.

Engineering Analysis Opening Resume (EA05-005) – 1995-02 Ford F150, 1997-02 Ford Expedition, Lincoln Town Car

July 13, 2005

Click Here for Opening Resume in .PDF

Engineering Analysis Closing Report (EA02-025) – 1992-97 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis

July 13, 2005

Click Here for Closing Resume and Report in .PDF

Woman’s 911 call: ‘My garage is on fire!’

July 13, 2005

Iowa farmer: Ford ignited deadly blaze; company denies blame

WESTGATE, Iowa (CNN) — Earl Mohlis says he has no doubt the fire that burned down his house last month, killing his wife of 34 years, started under the hood of his 1996 Ford F-150 pickup truck — and he is suing the company, he says, to prevent more deaths.

Ford Motor Company has concluded the truck did not cause the fire.

Ford document: Millions of vehicles have fire risk part

July 13, 2005

KISSIMMEE, Florida (CNN) — Early this year, Laura Hernandez nudged her husband, Nestor Oyola, as he slept in their Kissimmee home and asked him to put the Ford Expedition he had bought her the day before into the garage.

She did not want to risk leaving it on the street, where it might be vandalized.

"That was my dream, to have a Ford Expedition," she recalled to CNN about the $22,000 Eddie Bauer 2001 model SUV — green with gold trim and leather seats.

Oyola moved the Expedition and they went to sleep.