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January 19, 2006
Two years ago, we lost our three
beautiful, wonderful daughters—Tara, Mysti
and Megan—in a horrible fire tragedy. We
will never recover from their loss. Yesterday,
we ended one chapter in that loss. CONTINUED >
- The families of three women who
burned to death in a Lincoln Town Car stretch limousine
fuel tank fire settled their lawsuits against Ford
Motor Co. around noon on Wednesday, January 18,
2005, in Mocksville, North Carolina. Routine
motions in the trial started Tuesday morning.
- The terms of the settlement are
confidential.
- The family today calls on Ford Motor
Company to install life-saving fuel tank shields
onto all vehicles with the fuel system design which
took the lives of their daughters.
- Tara Howell Parker, 29, a former
Miss Winston who lived in Charlotte, and her sisters
Mysti Howell- Poplin, 28, and Megan Howell, 16,
both of Mocksville, were killed September 10 th
, 2003, while returning home in a Lincoln Town
Car stretch limousine from a concert in Greensboro. The
Lincoln Town Car stretch limousine had been
rented with a professional driver to provide an
extra measure of safety for the young women on
a special sister night out together. The Lincoln
was stopped in heavy traffic when it was rear-ended
by a drunk driver in a pickup truck. The women
were trapped inside the vehicle when its fuel tank
exploded, burning them alive. Estimates
from experts on both sides concluded that the impact
speed was less than 60 mph.
- Families of the three women had
sued Ford, maker of the Lincoln Town Car, claiming
that the Lincoln Town Car should have been equipped
with fuel tank shields for protection against fuel
tank rupture and catastrophic fires in these cars
when rear-ended .
- In October, 2002, Ford paid to retrofit
approximately 350,000 police cars with the shields. Ford,
at that time, rejected calls to place the shields
on non-police cars, saying "this is not a civilian
issue." Actually, a majority of deaths and
injuries in these events have occurred in non-police,
family and business cars.
- With shields in place, these vehicles
have been shown to survive rear impacts without
fuel tank puncture at up to 100 mph. The
shields are a well-known technology, having been
used by Ford and other manufacturers on dozens
of car lines since the 1960s.
- In September, 2005, Ford notified Lincoln
Town Car stretch limousine dealers and owners about
a higher risk of fuel tank puncture or rupture
in these cars in high-speed rear end collisions
and offered free protective shield upgrade packages,
but again refused to place shields on the remainder
of the similar cars on the road.
- Experts concluded that the shields
would have prevented the fuel tank punctures and
the sisters would have survived if there has been
no fire.
- The base Lincoln Town Car and the
stretch limousine conversion, is the same in these
respects as the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor,
blamed in the burning deaths of numerous law enforcement
officers in rear-end collisions. Ford began putting
protective shields covering known puncture sources
near the fuel tanks in these police cruisers in
2002.
- The Lincoln Town Car, the Ford Crown
Victoria and the Mercury Grand Marquis make up
Ford's "Panther" line of passenger cars. This is
the only major car platform sold in North America
with the fuel tank located outside the protection
of the rear axle. Unlike other cars, the fuel tank
sits "sandwiched" between the rear axle and the
trunk and within the cars rear "crush zone" - the
area of the car that absorbs the impact from rear
collisions. In these cars, rear impact is more
likely to rupture or puncture the fuel tank, releasing
fuel that can then be ignited by sparks.
- At least five million of these cars—unprotected
from possible fuel-fed fires caused by rear collisions—are
estimated to be in use on roads today.
- Ford has rejected repeated calls
by safety groups and elected government officials
to provide shields to all these vehicles on the
road.
May
25, 2004: Federal Court Hands Police, Cities
Victory In Ford Car Fire Lawsuits
May
19, 2004: Lawyers Announce Agreement In
Principle To Settle Lawsuit in Dallas Officer
Death March
4, 2004: Dallas to Equip Police Cars with
Fire Suppressant, Says Officer Safety Will
Not Be Left to "Sheer Luck"
June
15, 2003: Dallas Crash Tests Show Crown
Victoria Fails Ford's Own 75 MPH Standard for
Police Safety May
29, 2003: City of Dallas Announces Independent
Crash Test
February
19, 2003: Ford Knew of Danger, But Withheld
Solution To Police Fire Deaths, Says Parents'
Lawsuit January
31, 2003: Illinois Sheriffs Call for Moratorium
on Ford Crown Victoria Purchases, Join Lawsuit
Demanding Safety Information
September
27, 2002: Ford's "Good
First Step" Needs to by Followed by
Third Party Review, Use of Better Technology
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