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Jack AndersonSecrecycloakstestsWASHINGTON - Buried in secret files of the Ford Motor Company lies evidence that big auto makers have put profits ahead of lives. Their lack of concern has caused thousands of people to die or be horribly disfigured in fiery car crashes. Undisclosed Ford tests have demonstrated that the big auto makers could have made safer automobiles by spending a few dollars more oneach car.In most American-made cars, the fuel tanks are located behind the rear axle. In this exposed position, a high-speed rear-end collision can cause the tank to explode, turning the car into a giant torch.Secret tests by Ford have shown that minor adjustments in the location of the fuel tank could greatly reduce the fiery danger.In March, 1967, Ford quietly tested an EnglishRover with the fuel tank above the rear axle. The Rover was subjected to a 29-mile-an-hour collision with “no deformation, puncture or leakage of the fuel tank.”In 1970, Ford repeated the test with its popular Mustang, relocating tne tank over the axle. A 4,000 -pound barrier was slammed against the car at 30 miles per-hour, yet there was “no leakage from the fuel tank. . , during impact.”A third test confirmed the life-saving conclusions. Auto safety consultant Byron Block demonstrated that a 1969 Ford Galaxy with a safety fuel cell located forward of the rear axle could take a collision of up to 63 miles-per-hour.Some auto makers claim the fiery accidents represent only a small minority of all collisions and are not worth the cost of making fuel tank changes. Yet the victims of flaming crashes suffer the most. Often they are turned into living mummies, ireparably scarred.In the long, run, the auto makers are saving little with this “cost-cutting.” Confidential Ford documents state that once the retooling and redesigning is done, repositioning the tank would cost only a tew dollars more per car.Ford actually has already safely relocated fuel tanks in its European-made Fiesta model, and proudly advertises they are “outside the zone of crash impact.”Federal standards require that all 1977 cars survive a 30-mile-per-hour rear-end crash. But the new cars are on the streets without having been government tested.FOOTNOTE: The car makers insist their new cars will meet federal standards. But Ford declined to tell us what changes are being made in their cars to conform. Ford executives also refused to share copies of their crash tests with us. General Motors insists that the fuel tank location is not the sole determining factor in rear-end collision safety.STRIKING OUT: We recently told of the bitter feud between the Justice Dept.’s criminal division head, Richard Thornburgh, and the chiefs of the federal strike forces, which were set up as independent organized crime fighters.Thornburgh felt the strike forces had become uncontrollable and were no longer effective. Therefore, he issued stricter investigative guidelines and brought some strike forces under the control of U.S. Attorneys. He also appointed Kurt Muellenberg, a veteran federal investigator, to run the strike forces.The strike force chiefs screamed that the guidelines would destroy their elite teams. Thornburgh, however, insisted that he was not out to kill the program. But an internal memo from Muellenberg to heads of the strike forces seems to signal a victory Tor Thornburgh.In the memo, Muellenberg says he has concluded that the restrictive guidelines “were appropriate (and) productive.” Moreover, he said the strike forces must observe “a high degree of interaction” with the U.S. Attorneys.PAPOOSE PROBLEM: A hundred years ago, theU.S. military blazed new trails westward, driving Indians from their lands and destroying their culture. Today,an unpublished congressional report declares state and local authorities continue to erode the proud Indian heritage by breaking up families.The report, based on a lengthy investigation by the American Indian Policy Review Commission, states that social welfare officials disrupt Indian society by removing children from their families and placing them in non-Indian foster homes.
Newspaper Details
Richardson Daily News
Richardson, Texas, US
Thu, Dec 30, 1976
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Madison H.
NA, 26 May 2023
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Richardson Daily News
