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The problem with the Pinto was that in a rear-end collision, the gas tank, which was located behind the axle, could be pushed into the differential-housing bolts, causing the tank to rupture.

GP is most likely referring to "The Myth of the Ford Pinto Case," written in 1991 by Gary Schwartz, in which he pointed out that the fatality rates per million cars on the road was lower for Pintos as compared with a number of other comparable subcompact cars. It's an interesting read.

Ford is once again under scrutiny for putting gas tanks behind the axle, this time in the Crown Victoria (aka Police Interceptor.)

The original 1960-63 Corvair had a tendency to fishtail especially if the tires weren't properly inflated (and the "proper" tire inflations, , but (1) later Corvairs fixed that problem, and (2) a number of other cars of that era had a tendency to fishtail. From 1965 on, the Corvair had an excellent fully-independent rear suspension like the Corvette.

So could the original Corvair, the Pinto, and the Crown Victoria have been designed better? Sure. Were their designs worse than average? Maybe not. Will cars be designed better in the future as a result of all this attention that has been brought to design flaws? I hope so.

You might want to rethink that...

Well, some cars, such as NASCAR and military vehicles, which are expected to take rear-end hits, have safety features such as fuel tank bladders and shielding between the trunk and passenger compartment. The expensive factory-equipped police cruisers lack these safety features, even though high-speed rear-end collisions are more common in a vehicle used for police duty, as you point out.

Besides, there is a trunk between the passengers and rear bumper to provide a crumple zone. This isn't a flaw, it's a design choice.

You are correct that this is a design choice. But it is a flawed design. According to federal statistics, the Crown Victoria is more likely to catch fire when rear-ended than any other car.

The design flaw is this: the gas tank is positioned between the rear axle and the rear bumper, and is ruptured on a rear end collision when it wraps around the axle. See, the 'crumple zone' is a metal container filled with a flammable liquid. To make matters worse, there are sharp bolts and other protrusions in the area of the gas tank, increasing the likelyhood of a breach. Ford, while not accepting responsibility for the design flaw, has nonetheless issued a recommendation that a hex-head bolt attached to the rear bumper be replaced with a round-headed fastener, and that a metal tab on the undercarriage be ground down.

After several deaths and one very public disfigurement, the Phoenix Police Department has retrofitted their Crown Victorias with a gas tank bladder, similar to what is mandated by most if not all racing sanctioning bodies, such as NASCAR.

The part of this story that I find interesting, is that Ford has had problems with gas tank designs going back to the sixties, even before the well known Pinto debacle. Starting with the 'drop-in' tank of the early Mustang, where the gas tank acted as the floor of the trunk. This design flaw caused the passenger compartment to be sprayed with a mist of gasoline on rear-end impact. See here.

The reason the Pinto incident became so well known, was that Ford knew there was a fatal design flaw, but decided it would be cheaper in the long run to settle with the injured or deceased families than to redesign the gas tank, or fit the cars with a $1 plastic baffle to lessen the likelyhood of it rupturing. The Pinto gas tank had the exact same flaws (mounted between bumper and axle, and sharp objects in it's vicinity) as the current Crown Vics.

Disclaimer: I'm not a Ford fan. I have owned and/or driven Fords and Buicks.

Pure BULLSHIT!

Actually, I don't mind Fords (although I prefer 1960s Dodge/Plymouths). I've got a 1964 Ranchero, but Ford doesn't put the customer in front of the profit. Just like the Pinto problem where Ford said, "It's cheaper to just pay off the deaths rather than fix the car".

The Crown Vic problem isn't just with high speed crashes. If you look at the link, you'll see where a police officer was burned to death when his Crown Vic was hit at 57mph.

The Detroit Free Press documented 30 deaths between 1992-2001 and a total of 69 in the last two decades, including at least 18 officers.

But mainly, unlike the old Mustangs, Ford is still selling the Crown Vics with a problem that kills people. A problem that they learned of 35 years ago.

Don't forget about other Ford products which blow up, like the Crown Victoria (killed more than the Pinto) and the Mustang. Sure, it's the old 1960s Mustangs, but from what they should've learned with that (don't put the fuel tank behind the rear axle), the Pinto and the Crown Vic wouldn't be deathtraps.

Ford with the roll-over SUVs is another problem but they slacked most of the blame on Firestone for their tires instead of coming to terms with that. I

s there another car company that sells more deathtraps than Ford?

Just more FUD. Considering Crown Vics are over 80% of the vehicles in Law Enforcement, and considering the number of vehichles that could survive an 80MPH rear end crash (M1A2 tank comes to mind). Police do a dangerous job. People should just slow the fuck down

The really sad thing is that Ford hasn't learned a thing from this. They are still building cars that catch fire when struck from behind.

IE is standard because it's the most popular web browser. When banks analyze their log file traffic and 90%+ of their traffic is coming from IE, then yes, people get the impression that IE is the standard.

Does IE actually use "standards" though? Well, that's another argument. Unfortunately, the most popular browser becomes the browser that sites get coded against. Consequently, it becomes the standard.

I would say that Opera is an alternative browser too. The average web user has no idea what Opera is. Even if they did know what it is, why would they even want another web browser when IE is conviently located on their desktop? Man, if the IE icon isn't right on the start menu, quick launch toolbar and on the desktop, my family has no idea where the icon is.

And it's a good thing Ford isn't the standard otherwise we would have to deal with more of this and that but I digress