Pinto Recall

Discussion of the role people, products, and profits played in the decision made regarding the Ford Pinto.

The Ford Motor Company’s case of reckless homicide was settled in February 1978 pertaining to Ford Motors knowing their latest model the Ford Pinto had serious safety design issues. “Eleven Pintos were subject to rear-end collisions with a barrier at average speed of 31 miles per hour to determine if any would be lost after impact. All but three Pintos failed the safety test yet Ford Motors continued production of the vehicle” (Trevino & Nelson, 2007. p. 116). In 1972 the first of many horrible automobile accidents occurred involving the Pinto. The Pinto when struck from the rear the fuel tank became ruptured causing the vehicle to burst into flames.” The role of the leadership involved failed the public from top to bottom. The role of President Lee Iacocca and executive leadership at the time of production and testing of the Pinto played a critical role in the decision to continue production and selling the vehicle instead of issuing a recall on the product. “During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s American consumers demonstrated little concern for safety, so Ford did not consider this a good business sense to promote it. “Ford’s most controversial reason for not making adjustments to the fuel tank design was convincing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulators that a cost/benefit analysis would be appropriate for determining the feasibility of safety design standards” (Trevino & Nelson, 2007. p. 116). With this information in hand Ford calculated the value of human life to be at $200,725, as the cost to make the necessary safety improvement to each vehicle came to $11. Ford determined it was in their best interest delay any improvements that would save lives, instead they chose the dollar amount the company could save by paying the “cost to society” payment of $200,725 for each death caused by the Pinto.

Imagine that...