Edmonton Sun (Edmonton, Canada)
EDMONTON (CP) -- Police say a fire that destroyed an officer’s cruiser after it hit a pole probably had nothing to do with safety concerns about that type of vehicle.
Edmonton police Insp. John Ratcliff said the impact ruptured the gas tank on the cruiser -- a Ford Crown Victoria -- causing it to burst into flames.
Class-action lawsuits are pending in at least 12 U.S. states over the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a specially-built police cruiser. Since 1983, at least 15 officers in the U.S. have died in fiery crashes after their Crown Victorias were rear-ended.
Ford Motor Co. contends the deaths reflect officers’ risky work rather than a design flaw.
Ratcliff said even though the cruiser that crashed on Saturday burst into flames, it probable wasn’t due to a design flaw.
“The impact was such that it would’ve happened to any vehicle,” Ratcliff said, adding he was not aware of any problems with Crown Victorias used by Edmonton police.
“I’m in one right now. I feel totally safe in it.”
The officer in the crash suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
On Friday, a jury in Belleville, Illinois, ruled the cars are safe as it dismissed a first class-action lawsuit filed in 2002 by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and the Centreville police department.
A judge still must decide if the automaker engaged in deceptive trade practices, violated Illinois’s consumer-fraud laws and unjustly enriched the company by the fraud.
Edmonton police Sgt. Peter Kawalilak, president of the Alberta Federation of Police Associations, said the group’s membership are comfortable with the cruisers.
“It fits the needs and offers the best police packages available right now,” said Kawalilak. “It’s a very strong car.
“I’ve seen Crown Victoria(s) totally squished and been rolled over, but they never burned.”
Edmonton police said that at the time of Saturday’s crash, the officer had been responding to an officer in distress call, which later turned out to be false.
It was snowing in Edmonton at the time, although police weren’t sure whether the crash was related to weather or road conditions.