Posted on 10/01/2004 6:50:09 PM PDT by DeepInEnemyTerritory
SHALIMAR - Ford Motor Co. can refuse to sell police cars to Florida law enforcement agencies that join a lawsuit against the automaker over fuel tank fires, a judge has ruled.
Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron denied Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris' request that he order Ford to resume selling cars to his department Monday. Ford has refused to sell Crown Victoria interceptors to Morris since July 2003, a year after he sued.
The suit claims the full-size, V-8-powered, four-door sedans have exploded in flames when struck from behind at high speed, in some cases killing officers. It blames poor design.
Barron last month granted class action status, permitting other Florida law enforcement agencies to join the lawsuit. No deadline for joining has been set.
With Barron's ruling in hand, Ford also will refuse to sell the cars to any other agency that participates in the suit, said company lawyer David Cannella.
"It's fundamentally illogical for Sheriff Morris to, on one hand, sue us and, on the other hand, seek the court to order (Ford) to sell him more vehicles," he said.
An attorney for Morris, Don Barrett, has said that although the sheriff views the Ford interceptors as defective, he wants to buy new ones to replace aging cars because seeking other vehicles would be more costly.
Morris' lawyers say there have been 14 accidents nationwide in which Ford interceptors caught fire after being rear-ended. Ford attorneys say that represents 0.01 percent of its interceptors on the road - none of them Morris' cars.
there is no way to totally protect a gas tank from catching fire in a accident. if there issufficient force then the tank will rupture and gas will burn. everyone in this country has become sue happy then whine that everything cost so much.
If they aren't dangerous, then they should not be suing the manufacturer.
If they are dangerous, then they should not be buying them.
They're talking about Crown Vics that are rear-ended on the side of the road by people doing 70+. Many of the accidents are at 80+.
How, exactly, is it *assumed* that this should be a survivable accident? This is going to be a catastrophic event regardless of any "design" problem.
Ford can choose who to deal with.
"Hey, my car got hit by a Hellfire missile and exploded into flames! It's defective!"
Too bad gun manufacturers don't do the same thing.
On what legal theory would someone even attempt to force a company to do business with another entity by court order???
hehehe... zactly.
This is a classic case of lying statistics. Crown Vics show a huge number of fatalities and fires from rear-enders. Well... duh... cops are the most likely to be on the roadside, and always in back of another car, and they are on the shoulder of freeways where other traffic is travelling at high speeds.
I predict the Sheriff will now claim an addiction to Crown Vics and submit paperwork for disability pay.
That was my first thought after reading the headline.
OTOH, maybe Ford SHOULD sell him the cars, then use the purchase as evidence in the civil suit that the Sheriff is being opportunistic, and doesn't actually believe the allegations in his own suit.
No need to give them more ammunition however inadvertently.
I think it would be more likely to give Ford more ammunition for the civil suit, see my post 13.
I don't believe Ford only cares about cost and not quality. If that was the case they would not be in business very long. Let alone one of the top auto manufacturers in the world.
Otherwise, every business that wants to remain competetive in the world market shops around for the lowest bidders.
One thing I don't understand about this is why can't the Sheriff find a dealer to buy from or does Ford have power over it's dealers to decide who they sell to?
The City that I work for took all the Ford Crown Vic PD cars in and they cut down a bolt in the rear of the vehicle near the frame. They told us the bolt was puncturing the fuel tanks during rear impact crashes, and as a result Officers were burning to death.
Many are probably correct by asserting that many of the crashes are unsurvivable, but many of the autopsies show the Officer died from burning to death instead of the impact of a collision.
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