ethics in action

[low_delta]

Somebody at Ford calculated that the loss of life caused by the exploding gas tanks on the Pinto was not worth the cost of a recall.

This, of course, is the same company that decided to sell Explorers with underinflated tires.

Comments

[stormy-brow.livejournal.com]

Ever seen the movie "Fight Club"?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Nope.

[specificocean.livejournal.com]

Every automobile manufacturer has, at one time or another, attempted to sell vehicles w/some sort of defects....

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Sure, but how often are they defects that lead so directly to deaths?

Somebody had to decide how much the recalls would cost versus the number of likely deaths from exploding gas tanks. And somebody had to look at that number of likely deaths, and try not to think what those deaths would mean to the families.

[specificocean.livejournal.com]

Bean counters don't look at the emotional impact....they're all about cost/benefit ratios....

[emschin.livejournal.com]

One of those "exploding gas tank" Pintos was the first car I had after I was divorced. I kept driving it for awhile, even after I found out it was dangerous. I was so broke and so hassled I went into denial and decided it 'wouldn't happen to me'. Luckily, it didn't. I'm appalled at my decision now.

[nephychu.livejournal.com]

The underinflated tires thing is pretty common where I'm from; dealers want to give you the "smoothest ride possible" so that you'll feel like you're driving a luxury model regardless of the condition or design of the vehicle.  They inflate the tires to about 2/3rds of the recommended pressure and let people drive 'em right off the lot so that the illusion of a "smooth ride" is maintained.  The Explorer explosions were just one instance where it "didn't work out the way it's meant to".

Kind of makes me wonder how many other corners get cut without anyone really calling car companies on 'em.  Hell, the tires on my car out in the driveway aren't all-season tires; something we paid for and something we need which makes what...  A $40 difference overall, at the most?

You really notice the difference when you try to drive across roads with a half-inch of ice frozen on top.

all-season?

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

there is really no such thing as an "all season" tire...tires that do well on ice, wear too fast on normal pavement.....

Re: all-season?

[nephychu.livejournal.com]

Well, semi-worn ASTs still perform better in winter, wet conditions, high speed driving, emergency maneuvering, etc.  The tires they gave me instead of what I wanted are good for:  A smooth ride & disguising the car's unforgivingly tight turn radius.  Useless in Winter, especially for a paranoid driver in myself who expects everyone else on the road to be a complete idiot (~30 cars in the ditch per day can't be wrong).

I mean I certainly wouldn't mind having Summer & Winter sets if I knew how to change them without destroying them or had the money to get them switched back and forth at a tire place; in fact I'd prefer it.  But I don't so I'm sort of stuck with a product that's worth about half as much as what was paid for and is really a risk to peoples' lives as it stands.

Oh well.

Re: all-season?

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

get a pair of "change over wheels" from Canadian Tire....they should have 'em.......just black steel......then ya have yer winter tread mounted up on those and summer on the wheels that came with the car.....if you can change a flat tire, you can rotate your tires in spring and fall.....

still, i have never seen an all-season tire that was worth a darn in winter

and how come you paid for all-season and didn't get them?

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

it's a sad thing, but there are formulae out there to determine YOUR (or MY) worth, should our lives be terminated......it's morbid to think about.....but, i'd bet you could surf to an on-line calculator within 10 minutes or so with a high speed connection.....

we've had an explorer since 1995.....one of the kids flipped the first one on an on-ramp.....(it was his screw-up on an icy day with too heavy a foot and not enough experience).....the original tires seemed to work just fine in summer, at the recommended inflation levels.......we always use other tires for winter....it's just safer that way.......ice and snow driving are a matter of course, here......

i honestly doubt that the vehicle engineers at ford sat down and said, "let's sell this vehicle with underinflated tires".......