GM suspends two engineers in disciplinary action

wintersun wrote:
The engineers were the fall guys. An executive made the decision not an engineer. No different than when Lee Iacocca while at Ford saw the cost to replace the Pinto gas cap that could cause a fuel fire in an accident and decided it was cheaper to pay off the lawsuits and did not make the change. Ford did not replace the defective fuel caps for a full 8 years. When Iacocca went over to Chrysler we saw his approach to car making with terrible K cars.

Iacocca stated "safety does not sell" as though that excused his criminal conduct. He should have gone to jail but the people at the top never do.

Small peanuts though compared to lying about WMD's and causing the needless deaths of tens of thousands of men, women, and children, all for the sake of US oil companies' profits.

Just a few facts for you.
One the gas cap was not the issue, the placement of the fuel tank was the cause of the fires.

http://users.wfu.edu/palmitar/Law&Valuation/Papers/1999/Leggett-pinto.html
"The controversy surrounding the Ford Pinto concerned the placement of the automobile's fuel tank. It was located behind the rear axle, instead of above it. This was initially done in an effort to create more trunk space. The problem with this design, which later became evident, was that it made the Pinto more vulnerable to a rear-end collision. This vulnerability was enhanced by other features of the car. The gas tank and the rear axle were separated by only nine inches. There were also bolts that were positioned in a manner that threatened the gas tank. Finally, the fuel filler pipe design resulted in a higher probability that it would to disconnect from the tank in the event of an accident than usual, causing gas spillage that could lead to dangerous fires. Because of these numerous design flaws, the Pinto became the center of public debate."

The highlighted part in the above text is the reason the Pinto's tank could rupture in a rear end collision. If hit hard enough the link bar bolt punches a hole in the tank. The fix was a plastic shield to protect the tank also the bolt was shortened and turned so the head faced the tank.

Don