Managing Product Safety - The Ford Pinto

17 Pages 4246 Words

on the road, had a frequency of 35% in surveyed ruptured fuel tanks. In 1977, Standard 301 was fully enacted by the NHTSA. Allegations regarding the fire hazards of the Pinto were made in a 1977 article in Mother Jones Magazine, “Pinto Madness.” Ford responded to these allegations by stating that “in every model year he Pinto has met or surpassed the federal fuel system integrity standards applicable to it.” The company acknowledged that later-model Pintos had an improved fuel system design.

In September 1977 NHTSA opened an investigation into the Pinto fuel tank system and ran an engineering analysis of the pre-1977 Pinto. It found the fuel tank design permitted easy puncture, and that the fuel tank filler pipe could pull away from the tank, leading to a conclusion that there was “a real potential for trouble.”

Legal reprisals began commencing with a February 1978 California jury verdict assessing $125 million in punitive damages against Ford in a case involving gas tank rupture and explosion on a 1972 Pinto. Damages were la...