Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83 based; site hound.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!hound!551rcg From: 551rcg@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: American cars: how safe Message-ID: <681@hound.UUCP> Date: Thu, 18-Oct-84 12:21:10 EDT Article-I.D.: hound.681 Posted: Thu Oct 18 12:21:10 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 21-Oct-84 09:28:44 EDT Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ Lines: 18 I'd like to remind you American car devotees that your faith in the safety of Detroit's finest may not be well- founded. Remember the Pinto ( alias the Self-Propelled Barbecue)? Some of you may recall that this bomb was marketed by Ford in full view of a known serious defect in the fuel system which caused the rear-mounted gas tank to turn the Pinto into a rolling crematorium when involved in a rear-end collision. Ford was well enough aware of this fact to allow it to determine, even before the car was put on the market, that it would be ultimately cheaper to pay off the burn victims or their estates than to redesign the Pinto. I seem to recall also that the executives responsible for the decision to market the Pinto in such condition were not held accountable.