Ford_Pinto

Ford Pinto Intro Back in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, Ford was considered one of the four major U.S. automobile manufacturers. This paper will focus on Ford, and the safety issues regarding the gas tank with the Ford Pinto between 1971 and 1977. In 1977, there was a criminal indictment brought against Ford stating that the Pinto had been considered a fire hazard, because of where the gas tank was located in the rear of the vehicle. Allegations were brought up that after detailed rear-end crash tests; the actual design of the gas tank, and the placement of the gas tank was a safety hazard, and considered dangerous to the driver, as well as to any passengers in the vehicle. It was stated in the case analysis that Ford was so anxious to get the car on the market, they decided that the design changes would not be made, because it would take too much time and cost too much money (1). The controversy surrounding the fuel tank was that it was located behind the rear axle, instead of above it. This was initially done in an effort to create more trunk space. The problem with this design, which later became evident, was that consumer, ford, feel, should, safety, theory, rawls, pinto, duty, car, about, principles, mistakes, held, understand, risks, regulations, purchasing, manufacturer, due, automobile, way, unreasonable, society, past, organization, new, government, features, case, vehicle, think, take, rules