Remember the Ford Pinto?
There was a major scandal when people started coming forward with allegations that their Pinto exploded. It seems the car's design allowed its fuel tank to be easily damaged in read-end collisions resulting in an explosion. Also, a problem with the door reinforcing meant that they could jam during an accident making the car a potential deathtrap.
At first, those reports were dismissed by Ford as lies and a smear campaign and they tried to sweep the information away from public awareness. Then, Mother Jones magazine got hold of the Ford Pinto Memo -- a cost benefit analysis comparing the cost of the $11 it would have taken to repair the design flaw against the cost of paying off potential lawsuits. While Ford was eventually acquitted of all criminal charges, it did gain a reputation for manufacturing "the barbecue that seats four."
I think only about 30 people died in explosions of this nature. So, for the most part, people could say, "it didn't happen to me." And maybe they were perfectly happy with their Pinto. And that's fine. But if you owned a Pinto, wouldn't you want to know that they sometimes exploded? And that a flaw in its design made it likely that it would again?
I'm just saying.
At first, those reports were dismissed by Ford as lies and a smear campaign and they tried to sweep the information away from public awareness. Then, Mother Jones magazine got hold of the Ford Pinto Memo -- a cost benefit analysis comparing the cost of the $11 it would have taken to repair the design flaw against the cost of paying off potential lawsuits. While Ford was eventually acquitted of all criminal charges, it did gain a reputation for manufacturing "the barbecue that seats four."
I think only about 30 people died in explosions of this nature. So, for the most part, people could say, "it didn't happen to me." And maybe they were perfectly happy with their Pinto. And that's fine. But if you owned a Pinto, wouldn't you want to know that they sometimes exploded? And that a flaw in its design made it likely that it would again?
I'm just saying.
