New York Times
DETROIT (Reuters) - A New Jersey city has sued Ford Motor Co., alleging the Ford Crown Victoria sedan often used as a police cruiser is prone to leak fuel and catch fire in high-speed, rear-end collisions.
In a lawsuit seeking class action status, the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey, echoed concerns that have also been raised by the state of Arizona over the safety of the Crown Victoria, whose fuel tank is behind the rear axle, where officials said it is prone to being punctured in a crash.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, claims Ford has known for decades that the fuel-tank placement could lead to fires in crashes, and that its own internal tests shows the tanks leak in 50-mph crash tests.
“Ford’s practice of marketing and selling the Crown Victoria with a known hazardous design amounts to an illegal act or unconscionable business practice,” the city said in its lawsuit.
Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said the company had not seen the suit, but said the Crown Victoria had a safe record.
“All the accidents we know of involving the Crown Victoria police interceptor and fires have occurred in high-energy impacts, with some being struck at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour,” she said.
Ford, which has sold 500,000 Crown Victoria police cruisers over the past 20 years, maintains the vehicle is safe. The world’s second-largest automaker had sent a bulletin to dealers last October asking them to make two minor repairs to police Crown Victorias to lessen the risk of axle parts puncturing the fuel tank in a high-speed collision.
Based on the bulletin, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November opened a preliminary probe into Crown Victorias, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars built between 1992 and 2001. All three vehicles share the same design.
NHTSA said it had so far linked eight deaths and 15 injuries to high-speed rear-end crashes that led to fires in the sedans. Others have linked an additional three deaths and nine injuries to crashes, but these have not been verified by NHTSA.
Police cars are at risk from rear-end crashes when they pull vehicles over on highways. One Arizona officer died after his vehicle was rear-ended by a car traveling about 65 miles per hour.
Ford told the state the vehicles had passed its own 50-mph rear-end crash tests. NHTSA standards call for a 30-mph test.