Business Law Unit One

Madeline Neunzig

Business Law 210

Unit One: Ethics

I: Introduction

II: The Pinto

III: The Cost of a Life

IV: Changing Times

V: Conclusion

Introduction:

In the 1960’s the Ford Pinto was the latest greatest car on the market, or was it? The Ford Pinto had some major flaws. The largest of which being its gas tank placement. Although denied by Ford the Ford Pinto when hit from behind at a rate of speed over 5 mph the gas tank would likely be punctured leading to the cars catching fire. However, this was not one of Fords concerns, the only thing they cared about when making the Pinto was money. They produced it faster than any other car, which is why when they found their large structural flaw the car was already produced. However, they made the conscious decision to continue to produce the car this way knowing full well that it was a dangerous vehicle. Many would ask why they would do such a thing, the answer is “cost-benefit”. Ford found it to be less money to just pay out $200,000 to the families of those they killed then recall the cars and make simple, inexpensive changes. There is no doubt in my mind that the producers of Ford were unethical.

The Ford Pinto:

The Ford Pinto was the product of Lee Lococca, it was Ford’s way of being competitive in the subcompact market. The Pinto was the 2,000 car, it was exactly 2,000 pounds and cost exactly $2,000 to make, no exceptions. The average time it took Ford to produce a car was 43 months, however, when Lococca took over Ford he reduced this time to 25 months. By doing this he rushed the entire process and by the time that Ford realized the Pinto was a death trap they were already built. In the initial safety tests, which were later hidden, it was found that when the Pinto was hit from behind at 30 mph it would likely burst into flames as the four bolts in front of the gas tank would puncture the gas tank. If the Pinto was hit from behind at 40 mph it would likely burst into flames and jam the doors...