Pinto Fires Case - Summary Article Review

Ford's tests also determined that the gas tanks could be protected by the installation of a simple part that would have cost the company $11 per vehicle. To make matters even worse, Ford was also aware that rear-end collisions typically caused the Pinto's doors to malfunction and become inoperable, sealing occupants inside the vehicles to burn to death when their cars caught fire.

Because the applicable government safety tests had been changed to include rear-end crashes only after the Pinto was already in production, the company was not under any statutory obligation to meet the new government standards. The company calculated the price of recalling the Pinto and of installing the $11 part on all 12.5 million affected vehicles at $137 million.It also calculated the total monetary cost of paying out the damage awards to the owners of 2,100 Pintos statistically likely to be involved in burns from crashes (including approximately 180 injuries from burns and 180 deaths from burns) and determined that the total cost of compensating the victims of the design defect would be less than $50 million. As a result of the decision to value corporate profits over human lives and welfare, hundreds of people died horrific deaths and hundreds more suffered painful and debilitating injuries and disabilities. Today, the decision by the company to value corporate profits over human lives and welfare….....