Issues
CAS Recall Request to William Clay Ford, Jr.
June 25, 2002
William Clay Ford, Jr., Chairman
Ford Motor Company
The American Road
Dearborn MI 48121
Dear Mr. Ford:
From the classic 1965-68 Mustang to the 1971-76 Ford Pinto both with exploding gas tanks to the 1983-87 E-series vans/ambulances with fuel systems that spurt gasoline to the 3.6 million1986-87 models with fuel line coupler separation to now the 1992-01 Crown Victoria, Grant Marquis and Lincoln Town Car with exploding fuel tanks, Ford has the worst overall record of all auto companies on motor vehicle fire safety.
CAS Letter to Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano
September 26, 2002
Honorable Janet Napolitano
Attorney General of Arizona
1275 West Washington Street
Phoenix AZ 85007
Dear Attorney General Napolitano:
We appreciate your work to try to get Ford Motor Company to recall its Crown Victoria Police Interceptors (CVPI) for defective fuel systems which explode on impact.1 The Ford dominated Technical Panel is about to make recommendations on technical fixes.
Lucky Officer Escapes with Life
Cobb cop spots stalled vehicle on I-285, and fireworks begin
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Doug Payne – Staff
Saturday, July 6, 2002
The Fourth of July ended with a fiery bang for four motorists on I-285, one of them a Cobb police officer.
Sgt. G.A. Abbott was driving westbound on the Perimeter at Paces Ferry Road at 11:45 p.m. Thursday when he saw a white Pontiac Grand Am stalled one lane in from the fast lane.
Fatal accident sparks investigation into car
By First Coast News Staff
LAKE CITY, FL – A fatal accident involving a Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy has sparked a statewide investigation into the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.
Dallas Police Officer Dies in Flaming Car
10/24/2002
By ROBERT THARP and TONY HARTZEL / The Dallas Morning News
An off-duty Dallas police officer working traffic control in an overnight freeway construction zone died in his flaming patrol car early Wednesday after being struck by what police called a speeding drunken driver.
Officer Patrick Metzler, 31, was at the wheel of a police cruiser that was slammed into from behind just after 1 a.m. in the closed right lane in the High Five construction area where Central Expressway intersects with LBJ Freeway.
Mourners Remember Cab Driver
By Bobby Cuza
STAFF WRITER
October 28, 2002
Mourners on Monday remembered taxi driver Mohammed Yousuf, who was killed Friday in Woodside when his cab was rear-ended and burst into flames — an incident that has prompted calls for a class-action lawsuit against the Ford Motor Co.
More than 90 percent of the city’s yellow taxis are Ford Crown Victorias, which came under federal scrutiny after a dozen police officers died after their cars’ gas tank caught fire in rear-end collisions.
Crown Victoria Death Watch
Troy Couple’s Car Known for Catching Fire when Hit – 9/21/04
Latest Crown Victoria Fire Claims Family of NASCAR Crew Chief – 9/11/03
Trooper Dies in Fiery Crash – 5/31/03
Geographic Recalls in the News
Some automakers think regional recalls sufficient; consumer advocates disagree
06/19/02
Christopher Jensen
Plain Dealer Auto Editor
Consumer groups are demanding that the government prohibit regional automotive safety recalls, a practice they say puts motorists’ lives at risk while saving automakers money.
In a regional recall, the automaker limits the repairs to cars in states where the problem is most likely to occur, rather than carrying out the safety program nationwide.
Letter to Dr. Runge: The Temporal Recall Problem
June 21, 2002
Dr. Jeffrey Runge, Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
400 7th Street SW
Washington DC 20590
Dear Dr. Runge:
NHTSA Reverses Redaction Policy
Why recall information disappeared from files
By Christopher Jensen
Plain Dealer Auto Editor
Sunday, June 30, 2002
Edition: Final, Section: Driving, Page F1
Is it a mistake or a conspiracy?
If you ask Clarence Ditlow, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration is trying to prevent scrutiny of regional-recall problems by
no longer disclosing the city and the state of consumers who complain.