Questions raised about Crown Victoria's safety

The Center for Auto Safety said Ford should recall the Crown Victoria and provide fire-suppression systems to protest the three million police and civilians driving the car.Download a PDF of the graphic.

SOURCE: Center for Auto Safety

Crown Victoria police cars still draw worries about fires
10/29/2007

Officer John Wheeler survived a hail of gunfire when a bank robber blasted an AK-47 at his patrol car. He battled back from the wounds and earned an award for his bravery. But during a routine traffic patrol in San Antonio, Texas, Wheeler was killed when his Crown Victoria was struck from behind and exploded into flames in 2005. Euclid Patrolman George Brentar, 49, was on radar detail chasing a speeder when his Crown Victoria patrol car hydroplaned, struck a utility pole and burst into flames on Oct. 10, killing the father of two.

SOURCE: Fraternal Order of Police

• Tara Howell Parker, 29, former Miss Winston and wife of then NASCAR crew chief Shawn Parker. The couple had adopted a son two months earlier.
• Mysti Howell Poplin, 24, of Mocksville, N.C., who with her husband, Shane, was raising 8-month-old daughter Mallie.
• Megan Elizabeth Howell, 16, of Mocksville, who, according to her boyfriend, was on her first big night on the town, now that she was mature enough to join her older siblings.

The sisters were returning home from a Fleetwood Mac concert in Greensboro, NC, when the limo, which had come to a halt in heavy traffic on I-40, was struck from behind by a drunk driver in a pickup truck. The impact trapped the girls inside the burning vehicle. The driver escaped. The women’s families are suing Ford for continuing to offer for public use vehicles that burst into flames when struck at high speeds from behind.

At issue is Ford’s Panther line of passenger cars – the Town Car, Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis – that continue to be manufactured with their fuel tanks outside the protection of the rear axle and within the vehicle’s “crush zone.” The location makes the fuel tanks vulnerable to puncture or rupture if the car is struck from behind at high speed. At least 18 law enforcement officers have died in fuel fed fires in Crown Victoria police cars, and scores of civilians have died in civilian versions of the cars, according to government reports.

A Florida couple was seriously burned in another Town Car limousine fire on May 1, 2005. Diane Huseman was severely burned and her husband, Roger, was injured when the 2003 Lincoln Town Car limousine in which they were passengers was struck from behind and erupted in flames. Both vehicles were traveling west on SR 93 near Naples, Florida, when the incident occurred. Diane was burned over 40% of her body and spent four months undergoing hospital treatment.

Ford began offering fuel tank safety shields to police agencies in 2003. Ford made a similar offer to Town Car limousine dealers and owners in 2005. However, the automaker has resisted calls to make the public aware of the cars’ vulnerability to fire and the availability of the shields.
 
On April 20, 2004, a Missouri jury took Ford to task on this issue. The jury reached a $43.7 million verdict against the automaker, claiming Ford should have notified Lincoln car owners of the car’s fire risk. The case involved the death of John Jablonski, 73, who died in July 2003, when another car rear-ended his 1993 Lincoln and it burst into flames. According to jury foreman Ed Friedel, 44, "Mr. Jablonski could have been saved by Ford for the price of a 37-cent stamp. The kicker for me and the other jurors was that the same design of gas tanks in that Town Car had caused fatal fires in police cars. Ford warned the police. They should have warned civilians."

FOR MORE INFORMATION contact Teresa Kelly, 512-328-4276, or 512-327-8412.

Sisters Megan Howell, Tara Howell Parker and Mysti Howell-Poplin died in 2003 when their rented limo was hit in the rear and burned.

Last month, Ford Motor Co. did something that it could have done at least three years ago. It began distributing a basic safety shield that reduces the risk of fire when a Lincoln Town Car limousine is hit from behind.

That shield might have saved the lives of three Mocksville sisters who burned to death on Sept. 10, 2003, on their way home from a rock concert.

SOURCE: JournalNow.com

January 16, 2006 trial to focus Ford fuel-tank controversy on civilian deaths

WINSTON-SALEM, NC—A trial in the death of three sisters who burned to death in a Lincoln Town Car limousine, including the wife of former NASCAR crew chief Shawn Parker, gets underway in the General Court of Justice in nearby Mocksville on January 16. The special trial date is not subject to change.

Ford Crown Victoria is under fire again
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. senator has asked Ford Motor Co. to issue gas tank shields to all Crown Victoria sedans used as taxi cabs, following the burning death of a New York City cab driver.

In a Dec. 30 letter to Ford Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, urged a "major design overhaul" of the sedans, which are the most popular vehicle in the New York City taxi fleet.

The move is the latest twist in a continuing debate about the safety of the Crown Vic, a full-sized, rear-wheel drive sedan popular with older drivers, police departments and taxi services. Critics contend that the location of the gas tank, behind the rear axle, leaves it vulnerable to rupture and fire in a rear-end crash.

Beginning in 2003, Ford made a set of gas-tank shields available for police cruisers. It offered the kits to owners of Lincoln Town Car limousines in September.

In addition, the kits have been available for purchase by private owners of the Crown Vic, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis for $105, plus labor costs.

"For some time now, Crown Victorias have evinced an apparent design flaw that makes the fuel tank susceptible to rupture, leakage and explosion following crashes," Schumer wrote.

Schumer urged Ford to make gas-tank shields and an expected fire-suppression system standard on all future models of the Crown Victoria and related cars. The fixes should be made available to New York City yellow taxis for retrofits, the senator said.

Schumer's letter followed the death of New York cab driver Gurbaj Singh. According to press reports, Singh's cab was struck in the side Dec. 26 by a minivan and burst into flames.

Ford spokesman Dan Jarvis said he could not comment on Schumer's letter since company officials had not reviewed it.

But Ford tests the Crown Victoria at speeds well beyond requirements imposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Jarvis said. The vehicle holds up well in the tests, he said.

"Certainly,the Crown Vic is a very safe car," Jarvis said. "The safety record of the car is among the best in the industry."

Ford has been mired in questions about the Crown Victoria's gas-tank design since a series of police deaths. At least 18 police officers and state troopers have died in Crown Victoria Police Interceptor fires. Most of the deaths occurred when the cruisers were struck from behind at extremely high speeds.

In Oct. 2003, another New York cab driver, Mohammed Abu Yousef, was killed in a fire when his Crown Vic was rear-ended.

Schumer previously wrote to Ford in 2003 after the death of a New York state trooper in a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.

SOURCE: The Detroit News >

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