Unit II - Business Law UNIT II CASE ANALYSIS CODY D. SMITH...

Business Law
UNIT II CASE ANALYSIS
CODY D. SMITH
COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

1
Case Summary
The Ford Pinto Case was one involving high controversy over business ethics with a
direct relationship to consumer injury and death. From 1971 through 1978 Ford’s Pinto design
was deemed the cause of many deaths; Ford sums this number to 23 yet critics say the figure is
closer to 500 (Case: The Ford Pinto, 2017). These deaths were due to a design flaw that Ford was
aware of involving the Pinto’s rear end and fuel tank being too weak allowing the tank to rupture
when involved in a rear end collision. “According to the sworn testimony of Ford engineers, 95
percent of the fatalities would have survived if Ford had located the fuel tank over the axle”
(Case: The Ford Pinto, 2017). Ford’s cost analysis of the situation was the determining factor for
letting this design flaw go without an answer for so long. Ford determined that it would be
cheaper to pay for the fatalities rather than fix the cars, they predicted that they would incur 180