Dallas sues Ford seeking information on police cars
By Hannah Lobel, Associated Press

DALLAS -- The City of Dallas on Thursday sued Ford Motor Co., seeking information about Crown Victoria police cars that officers' groups say are prone to erupt in flames when hit from behind at high speeds.

City officials want to know whether the vehicles are safe enough. They have been in talks with Ford for two weeks but are not satisfied with the amount of information that Ford said it would provide about so-called bladders, sacks to protect fuel from igniting.

Ford said it would take six months to provide that information.

"That's not soon enough," city attorney Madeleine Johnson said. She accused Ford of stalling.

By Joel Stashenko
The Associated Press

State Senator: Suspend Crown Victoria Purchases by Police Agencies

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Police agencies throughout New York should immediately suspend purchases of Ford Crown Victorias for use as cruisers amid renewed safety concerns, a state senator said Tuesday.

Last week's death of state Trooper Robert Ambrose in a fiery crash on the state Thruway in Yonkers raises new questions about the safety of the Crown Victorias when they are hit by another vehicle from behind at high speeds, state Sen. Nicholas Spano said.

"It's a death that should have been prevented, and that's why I am calling on the state of New York to impose an immediate moratorium on the purchase of additional Ford vehicles until evidence can be produced that these vehicles can safely withstand rear impacts," Spano said.

SOURCE: The Journal News

Fiery CVPI Accident Kills New York State Trooper

State Trooper Robert W. Ambrose, 31, died in a fiery crash when his Crown Victoria Police Inceptor was rear-ended by an SUV on Thursday, December 19 on a New York State Thruway in Yonkers.

The driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that slammed into a police cruiser was driving with a suspended license, state police said yesterday.

Jason Boney, 20, of Greenburgh had lost his driving privileges for previous violations when he rear-ended a police cruiser around 8:35 p.m. Thursday on the New York State Thruway, triggering a chain-reaction crash that killed Trooper Robert W. Ambrose, 31, of Pearl River and injured six others. Boney also died in the crash.

Investigator Joseph Becerra of the Hawthorne barracks said police are looking at excessive speed on Boney's part as a likely contributor. The six others hurt in the crash remained hospitalized last night at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.

Ambrose, a five-year state police veteran, was investigating a minor two-car accident when his Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was struck by Boney's 2002 Jeep and burst into flames. Several passing motorists tried unsuccessfully to free Ambrose, who was parked on the northbound shoulder near Exit 4. Becerra asked any witnesses to call him at 914-769-2653.

Boney was driving in the middle lane of the three-lane road when he struck a 2000 Nissan driven by Steve Craft, 50, of Plainview, Long Island, state police said. Boney then apparently lost control of his Jeep, which swerved to the right and slammed into the parked cruiser. Craft was not hurt. The impact pushed the cruiser forward into two cars in front of it that had been involved in the minor accident: a 1990 Ford Contour driven by Stephen Burke, 61, of Scarsdale, and a 1997 Toyota driven by John Harayda, 50, of New Rochelle. Burke and Harayda were sitting in their cars, while tow-truck operator Jack Rogowsky, 31, of Yonkers stood outside the vehicles, preparing to tow one of the cars. Rogowsky works for City Towing in Yonkers.

Burke, Harayda and Rogowsky were listed in critical condition yesterday at the Westchester Medical Center. Three people in the Jeep Ö Tarik Taylor, 18, Jason Turnbull, 17, both of White Plains, and Wayne Penn, 20, of Elmsford Ö also suffered serious injuries and were taken to Westchester Medical, police said. Their families declined to authorize the hospital to release information on their conditions.

The Ford Police Interceptor is the subject of several lawsuits, including a class action filed in Texas this year, that allege the car's gas tank bursts into flames when the vehicle is struck from behind. New York State Police have been retrofitting their Police Interceptors with protective shielding near the gas tank to try to prevent such explosions, but Ambrose's cruiser did not have the shield, police said.

Gov. George Pataki called Ambrose's death "a painful reminder of how New York's courageous law-enforcement officials place their lives on the line every day to protect our safety and security."

Autopsies showed that Ambrose died of carbon monoxide inhalation, internal injuries and severe burns to his body. Boney died of internal injuries.

Yonkers, N.Y. -- State Trooper Robert W. Ambrose was quite a sight at 6-feet-4-inches tall, about 240 pounds. A high school football player and an avid weightlifter, Ambrose was known as "gentle giant" among his colleagues, and as a tough police officer who patrolled the state highways for five years. He lived in Pearl River. Ambrose, 31, died on the job Thursday night inside his state police cruiser on Interstate 87 in Yonkers when a Jeep Grand Cherokee rammed his car from behind. Ambrose was parked on the shoulder of the road after responding to a minor accident.

MORE stories about Trooper Ambrose.

11.23.2002
Dallas threatens Ford with lawsuit

DALLAS - City Attorney Madeleine Johnson insists that Ford Motor Company produce comprehensive safety reports on its Crown Victoria police cars, and agree to do it by Dec. 2 or be sued. Johnson's demands were made during a news conference Friday, nearly a month after Officer Patrick Metzler, 31, died Oct. 23 when his Crown Victoria Police Interceptor burst into flames after a rear-end collision on U.S. 75.

10.23.2002

Police officer killed when speeding SUV slams squad car from behind

10/23/2002 5:45 AM - An off-duty Dallas police officer was killed in a predawn traffic accident Wednesday when a sport-utility vehicle slammed into a squad car while the officer was helping with lane closures on the northbound Central Expressway.

Both vehicles exploded on impact at about 1 a.m., killing the officer instantly and sending the two occupants of the SUV to Baylor University Medical Center, police said. Hospital officials said one of the SUV's occupants was in fair condition; the other persons condition was unknown.

Just hours before this most recent fiery tragedy involving CVPIs, the Federal Panel on Multi-District Litigation ordered all Ford Crown Victoria class action cases be centralized in Federal Court in Cleveland, before Federal Judge Donald C. Nugent.

The effect of this announcement will be to allow these cases to begin to move forward. All of the class actions filed nationally had been removed to Federal Court by Ford, and had been placed on hold pending Ford's request to centralize the cases under the Federal Multi-District Litigation rules.

The tragedy last night in Dallas underscores the urgency of the need for action to repair the vehicles. An engineering inspection and analysis will be required to determine whether Ford's proposed new fix would have prevented the Dallas tragedy. At present, it is not known whether the vehicle had received the first Ford fix, announced under its October, 2001 Technical Service Bulletin. Thus far, several vehicles which have received that fix have been involved in fiery collisions which the fix did not prevent.

PHOENIX -- Ford's recommendations for decreasing the likelihood of its Crown Victoria police cars bursting into flames after rear-end impact were welcomed as a "good first step" today by victims and family members, who again urged Ford to adopt state-of-the-art safety measures shown to prevent fires in very high speed impacts.

"Dear Dr. Runge:

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. The Ford dominated Technical Panel is about to make recommendations on technical fixes. We strongly urge these fixes be tested independently to confirm they will protect police officers in the 80+ mph rear impacts in which occupants survive the crash forces only to burn to death."

8.08.2002
Ford can't get parts for tests of police cars

TRAVERSE CITY -- Ford Motor Co. said it hasn't been able to get fuel bladders needed for safety tests after the deaths of three Arizona Highway Patrol officers in crashes involving the automaker's Crown Victoria sedans.

Arizona Fraternal Order of Police Letter to Ford

"As State President of the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, I am writing you on behalf of our members who serve with law enforcement agencies throughout the State of Arizona. In the past two years, two Arizona Highway Patrol Police Officers have been burned alive after their police interceptor Ford Crown Victoria vehicles were rear-ended at high speeds. It appears that both fires that killed these officers were initiated after their respective gas tanks were punctured."

Bladder Tank and Fire Shield Prevent Fire in High Speed Crash Test
Class Plaintiffs Demand Ford Adopt Safety Modifications

A specially modified Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser equipped with a fuel tank liner and a fire suppressing shield successfully withstood an 82 miles per hour crash in a test conducted by a military testing facility this summer. The metal Ford fuel tank suffered major punctures from the crash, but the combination of a Fuel Safe bladder and a FIRE Panel shield prevented the tank from leaking and igniting.

CNN Presents
Profiles Explosive Issue: Safety Record of Ford's Crown Victoria

'In the Line of Fire' Explores Risk to Police Officers Driving Vehicle Model with Back-end Fuel Tank

In the last six years, 12 people -- eight of whom were police officers -- have died in fiery rear-end crashes involving the nation's most popular police car: Ford Motor Company's Crown Victoria. The victims found themselves trapped inside this police cruiser as it burned after the crash ruptured the fuel tank. CNN Presents takes a look at this macabre irony in its documentary "In the Line of Fire," in which Ford gives its first network television interview on the controversy. "In the Line of Fire," is scheduled to premiere Saturday, July 20, at 8 p.m. and to replay on Sunday, July 21, at 7 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on CNN/U.S. (ET).

"These vehicles have been sold in an unreasonably dangerous condition. The gas tanks of the Crown Victoria are behind the rear axle - a location which is unsuitable for police vehicles which stop along road shoulders to direct traffic or help motorists and are susceptible to rear end impacts," said Rubin.

6.30.2002
The Center for Auto Safety Report: Pressure mounts for recall of Ford police cruisers

Ford Motor Co. is under mounting pressure to recall hundreds of thousands of Crown Victoria police cruisers amid reports of rear-collision gas tank fires in which at least 10 police officers have burned to death since 1992.

5.29.2002

Fatal accident sparks investigation into car

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. Twenty-four year-old Jeff Davis died on his birthday, 23 hours after his squad car plowed sideways into a tree and burst into flames. Davis was on his way to a call when he swerved to avoid pedestrians and ended up colliding with a tree. According to Pastor Robert Davis, "the fire from the Crown Victoria is what took his life." His father believes that his son's fiery death was preventable had he not been driving the Ford Crown Victoria.

FORD CROWN VICTORIA POLICE INTERCEPTOR BURN CASES - FOUR CASES SETTLED
Cruiser Gas Tanks Caught Fire after Crashes - Officers Burned to Death

Perry & Haas, L.L.P. (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A. (Phoenix, Arizona) have settled four cases in which Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor vehicles caught fire and burned after highway speed rear-end collisions. The amounts of the settlements are not disclosed.

"The state of Arizona, through the Arizona Department of Public Safety is responsible for insuring the safe and expeditious use of the highway transportation system for the public, and to provide assistance to local and county law enforcement agencies. As a result of the tragic deaths of DPS Officers Juan Cruz, in December 1998, and Floyd Fink, in February 2000, DPS has had an increasing concern about the safety of the State's fleet of Crown Victoria Police Interceptors ("CVPI"), which the State purchases for various law enforcement agencies but which are used in the main by DPS Both Officer Cruz and Officer Find burned to death in fuel-fed fires after their CVPI's were rear-ended at high speeds."

"Dear Ms. DeMeter:

As the Attorney General of the State of Arizona, I represent the hundreds of men and women who work for the Arizona Department of Public Safety and are charged with the mission of assuring the public safety of the Arizona state roadways. The law enforcement officers of the Department of Public Safety utilize the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor ("CVPI") vehicles in their work on Arizona roads."