Ford Pinto Case
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Facts:
Around 1967 Ford Motor Company decided to design a small size car, the Pinto. Within the design aspects the goal was to build a car below 2,000 pounds and cost less than 2,000 dollars. Ford was able to design the car in 38 months instead of the 48 months which was the normal production time. During the design process it was discovered that the gas tank was placed in unsafe position near the rear bumper. During the Pinto's crash test Ford discovered the fuel tank could be punctured, and the car could go on fire. The Pinto met all federal safety standards even with the gas tank problem, and went into production around 1970. Within two years, around fifty-four people died of fire accidents involving the Pinto.
Word got out about the Pinto gas tank problems, and soon this became press-related issue for Ford. Management at Ford decided to do a risk/benefit analysis, but it determined that the amount of money made off the car was higher then the cost to pay the liability to those that got injured or killed. In the determination, management decided profit outweighed human life...