Carmaker to pay for shields around gas tanks after departments said vehicle was prone to burn in crash
Michelle Rushlo, Associated Press
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Ford Motor Co. agreed Friday to install shields around the gas tanks on 350,000 Crown Victoria police cars across the country after at least a dozen officers were killed in fiery crashes.
(A local attorney representing Nueces County in a lawsuit against the automaker called the move a good first step, but said the company fell short in trying to protect the officers who use the vehicles.)
Ford agreed to pay for the changes and study ways to make the cars safer after police departments said the vehicles are prone to burst into flames in high-speed, rear-end crashes.
About 80 percent of police cars on the road nationwide are Ford Crown Victorias.
(There are about 25,000 of the Crown Victoria police interceptors in use in Texas, including 110 in use by the Nueces County Sheriff’s Department and 116 in the Corpus Christi police fleet.)
Sue Cischke, vice president of safety engineering for Ford, said the company was answering concerns raised by police nationwide. But she insisted the Crown Victoria is safe.
“We’re trying to make a safe car safer,” Cischke said.
Shields made of plastic and rubber will be installed on the rear axle, the differential and under the gas tanks. Those components have either been faulted in accidents or showed the potential to puncture the gas tank in crash tests.
(They are proposing the cheapest and least effective fix,” said David Perry, the attorney representing Nueces County in the lawsuit, filed in July on behalf of all Texas counties and cities. The county is asking Ford to notify law enforcement agencies of safety concerns and to make safety modifications to the vehicles at the company’s expense.)
(One change Perry would like to see installed on the vehicles is fuel tank liners, or bladders, that would prevent the fuel tank from leaking in a high-speed, rear-end crash.)
(He said Ford’s decision Friday to install the shields was the company’s way of admitting they are responsible for the fixing the vehicle.)
Cischke would not say how much the modifications will cost. But a state government official speaking on condition of anonymity said it would cost about $ 50 million to retrofit the 350,000 Crown Victorias used by police departments.
“This is a significant step forward in the safety of the Crown Victoria,” said Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano, who has been pressing Ford to make the cars safer. Three Arizona police officers have died in fiery Crown Victoria crashes.
Cischke said the retrofit kits should start arriving at Ford dealerships by the end of next month, and all shields should be installed by January. The same modifications will not be made to the consumer version of the Crown Victoria, though drivers will be able to buy retrofit kits if they want them.
(A federal panel in Oregon still has to appoint a judge to handle the Texas claim along with similar claims across the country.)