Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. overruled its own safety engineers' recommendations to recall up to 4.1-million pickups and sport utility vehicles that they found had substandard door latches, court documents show.
A Ford safety engineering team determined in March 2000 that door latches on certain 1997-2000 light trucks didn't meet federal safety standards. The trucks include the popular F-150, F-250, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models, according to internal Ford memos made public as part of court cases.
Ford ordered design changes for future vehicles, but it decided against a recall, which could have cost up to $527-million.
At least 16 product-liability lawsuits filed against the automaker claim that latch failures led to fatal accidents involving doors that flew open. Many have been settled.
Federal safety officials are investigating.
Elsewhere ...BOY CHAMPIONED BY GORE DIES: Ian Malone, a brain-damaged boy who caught Al Gore's attention during the 2000 presidential campaign because an HMO threatened to cut his coverage, has died at age 41/2. Ian died in his sleep Saturday in Everett, Wash., his father, Dylan Malone, told KING-TV. Ian was born severely disabled after a botched delivery deprived him of oxygen. Gore seized on the issue at a campaign rally and in a commercial to illustrate his support for universal health care. Aetna U.S. Healthcare decided to reinstate Ian's coverage.
NO LUCK FOR PANDAS: National Zoo officials said Sunday they do not believe there will be a pregnant panda this year at the park. "Tian Tian gets an "A' for effort, but I have to say he gets an "F' for technical merit," said assistant Curator Lisa Stevens. By late Sunday, zoo officials believed Mei Xiang was no longer in heat. Pandas are in heat only once a year.