The reason the lawsuits surrounding the Pinto made such major news, and resulted in a substantial verdict was because of the discovery of what would come to be known as the “Pinto Memo” in which Ford discussed knowing of this issue and did a cost-benefit analysis as to whether it was worth fixing this issue or to essentially dealing with the consequences. This resulted in deadly crashes where the car would explode killing the occupants just as occurred much more recently with respect to defectively designed Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Liberty models. The Ford Pinto was manufactured in the 1970s and featured a rear mounted fuel tank, which was located between the rear axle and the rear bumper. The most famous example of this as our Boston defective vehicle injury lawyers can explain, involved the Ford Pinto. This is not a common design these days as there had been a long history of deaths and litigation when rear-mounted fuel tanks exploded in the past.
One of the major problems with this design is the rear placement of the fuel tank on the vehicle.
Investigators found the plastic fuel tank had not only been punctured in the crash, but had completely melted as a result of the fire.ĭangerous Fuel Tank Placement and Construction in Jeep Models Proves Deadly When first responders arrived at the scene of this fiery wreck, there was nothing they could do for her or her unborn child and she was soon pronounced dead. When this expectant mother was driving her Jeep Liberty and hit from behind, the impact caused the plastic fuel tank to rupture resulting in an explosion and subsequent fire. NHTSA estimates this serious defect resulted in no less than 37 fatal traffic crashes involving Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured between 19 and Jeep Liberty models made between 20 according to a report by NBC News. This could cause the leaking fuel to explode resulting in a fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that a defect in the placement and design of the fuel tank in over 1.5 million Jeeps could lead to a fuel leak if the vehicles were hit from behind. When a 23-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant got in her 2003 Jeep Liberty, she had no idea was riding in what was essentially a ticking time bomb.
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