Engineering Ethics

1978: Ford Pinto Recall 51

Nader, R., Unsafe At Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile. New

York: Grossman, 1965, 236.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Investigation report, phase I:Alleged fuel tank

and filler neck damage in rear-end collision of subcompact passengers cars 1971–1976 Ford

Pinto 1975–1976 Mercury Bobcat. Reprinted in The Ford Pinto Case: A Study in Applied

Ethics, Business, and Technology. Edited by D. Birsch and J. H. Fielder. Albany, NY: SUNY

Press, 1994a, 77–95.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Motor vehicle safety standard, Part 571; S301.

Reprinted in The Ford Pinto Case: A Study in Applied Ethics, Business, and Technology.

Edited by D. Birsch and J. H. Fielder. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1994b, 61–75.

Strobel, L., The Pinto documents. Reprinted in The Ford Pinto Case: A Study in Applied

Ethics, Business, and Technology. Edited by D. Birsch and J. H. Fielder. Albany, NY: SUNY

Press, 1994, 41–53.

Stuart, R., Ford orders recall of 1.5 million Pintos for safety changes: inquiry begun last fall.

NY Times, A1, June 10, 1978.

West’s California Reporter,The Pinto fuel system. Reprinted in The Ford Pinto Case:A Study

in Applied Ethics, Business, and Technology. Edited by D. Birsch and J. H. Fielder.Albany,

NY: SUNY Press, 1994, 55–60.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Should cost-benefit analysis include the costs of legal settlements and

equipment recalls? What other factors could be considered in this

analysis?

2. View The Fog of War, a 2003 documentary about Robert McNamara

produced by Morris, Williams, and Ahlberg. Robert McNamara, who

received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard,

viewed the world’s problems as solvable through statistical analysis. Of

which ethical theory does this remind you? Based on the film, how did

McNamara use cost-benefit analysis in his decisions (1) on bombing

raids over Japan during World War II? (2) on safety at Ford Motor

Company? (3) on support for the Vietnam War as U.S. Secretary of

Defense? Do you agree with each decision?

3. According to the New York Times, the median payment of families of

September 11, 2001 victims by the U.S. federal government was about

$1.7 million. Three typical payments were summarized. A 26-year-old

woman who worked as an accountant for annual compensation of

$50,000 at a financial services company in the World Trade Center

received $1.6 million. She was single and lived with her mother.

A 40-year-old New York City firefighter, whose annual compensation

was $71,300, received $1.5 million. He was single and was survived by

two parents. A 33-year-old man who worked as an equities trader, for

annual compensation of $2 million, at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World

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52 Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

Trade Center received an undisclosed sum. No projected awards were

released for people who made more than $231,000 a year. He was

married, with two children (Chen, 2004). Account for the differences

between the compensation awards in 2004 and the NHTSA human life

estimate of $200,725 in 1972.

4. Could Ford engineers have banded together and postponed the market

release of the Pinto?

5. Did Ford engineers meet their professional responsibilities of protection

of public safety, technical competence, and timely communication of nega-

tive and positive results to management?

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