bendrr, did you say "crown victoria police cruiser"? you might want to read this...
Police push Ford safety inquiry
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Erin Jones of Gilbert lays flowers at a makeshift memorial for Chandler police officer Robert Nielsen, who was killed Wednesday after his patrol car was hit and erupted in flames in Chandler. |
Judd Slivka and Bob Golfen
The Arizona Republic
June 14, 2002 12:00:00
Pressure mounted Thursday for Ford to address safety concerns about its Crown Victoria after a Chandler police officer driving the model burned to death in a fiery collision.
Officer Robert Nielsen, 25, died Wednesday when his cruiser spun out of control after a collision with another car and hit a traffic pole on Chandler Boulevard near Dobson Road, causing the explosion. The other driver, Nina Faye Wilson, 72, of Tempe, remained hospitalized Thursday in good condition.
The state Department of Public Safety's investigation began focusing on the gas tank's design, which has been blamed for the deaths of at least 10 police officers nationwide, possibly as many as 14, in the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix police union asked Mayor Skip Rimsza to delay a $4.4 million order for new Crown Victorias until the fuel tank issue is solved.
"Until Ford Motor Co. adequately addresses these fatal safety concerns, we believe any further contracts for this vehicle continues to place our officers at risk," union President Jake Jacobsen told Rimsza in a letter.
He also raised concerns that the point of impact that caused the explosion was different from the one in other fatal accidents involving the Crown Victoria.
Nielsen's cruiser had been retrofitted with a change that Ford recommended to minimize the risk of an explosion, but still burned up moments after impact.
Pressure on Ford
State Attorney General Janet Napolitano told a Ford vice president that a committee should be named to explore Crown Victoria safety issues, and she volunteered the state police as a test unit for any changes Ford wants to make in the cruisers.Ford bowed to her request that it give its highest priority to the Crown Victoria's propensity to explode after rear-end impacts.
Eighty percent of patrol cars nationwide and in the Valley are Crown Victorias, largely because they are the only full-size, rear-drive sedan made by an American manufacturer. Rear-drive is preferred because of handling characteristics and durability.
Safety concerns have focused on the placement of the gas tank within the Crown Victoria's crumple zone, which is designed to fold up and absorb the energy of a rear-end collision.
During a crash, the tank can move, thrusting forward or to the side where it can be perforated by various bolts, cables and structural supports in that part of the car. Once the tank is perforated, an errant spark can ignite the fumes, which are highly flammable and can quickly engulf anyone inside.
Napolitano in March wrote the company a letter outlining her concerns.
"That it had to have me get involved was tragic," Napolitano said Thursday. "Now we have another death on our hands."
Among the issues cited:
Ford never crash-tested the police cruisers at speeds higher than 50 mph.
After the company suggested a fix to one problem, it never crash-tested a car with the fix.
Ford misrepresented a crash test and statistics shown to the DPS last year.
Higher standards?
At the heart of the issue between the state and Ford is a philosophical question: Should a police car have higher safety standards than its civilian equivalent?"The whole argument that police cars are used in a different way is misleading," said Sara Tatchio, a Ford spokeswoman. "Police cars are more often in high-speed situations than regular cars, but the safety standards are high for both. We don't give you less protection if you're not in a police car."
Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C., called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to order a recall if Ford refused to voluntarily recall both the police and civilian versions of the sedan.
"I told them last summer of reports that I know of in Florida, Arizona and Virginia of officers who have been killed in rear-end crashes," said Ditlow, who heads an agency founded by consumer activist Ralph Nader. "The bottom line: If you have a crash in which you survive the trauma, you should never die in a fire. It just shouldn't happen."
In response to Napolitano's March letter, Ford executives traveled to Arizona last week and met with her and state police staff. The meeting was cordial, she said. But in the wake of Nielsen's death Wednesday, Napolitano made two more phone calls to Ford, and it wasn't until those calls in recent days that real progress was made.
"I think for a long time there they were in defensive litigation mode," Napolitano said. "There were lawyers bickering with lawyers. . . . I think now we're dealing with a different level of Ford."
Officers switch vehicles
Phoenix police Officer Bryan Chapman is unconvinced.He said he would rather drive a 1995 Chevrolet Caprice, with 80,000 miles on the odometer, holes in the seats and an air-conditioner that blows hot than get behind the wheel of a Ford Crown Victoria.
Chapman asked for the Chevy last year after his partner, Officer Jason Schechterle, was critically burned when his Crown Victoria exploded in a rear-end collision. On Thursday, a handful of other officers in Chapman's precinct also turned in their keys and asked for the older Chevys.
"Before my primary concern as a police officer coming to work was getting shot or getting stabbed," Chapman said. "Now an equal concern is getting burned to death."
