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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 19,584
Loc: outer space
Last seen: 8 months, 5 days
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Dangers of driving a Pinto?
#7580771 - 10/31/07 01:34 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Just curious, if you get rear-ended and immediately turn off your engine, and run the fuck away from the car as fast as possible, do you stand a chance of survival before explosion? Or does the car immediately explode on impact?
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trendal
J♠



Registered: 04/17/01
Posts: 20,815
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Re: Dangers of driving a Pinto? [Re: Crystal G]
#7580809 - 10/31/07 01:43 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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You stand a good chance of not being able to get out at all 
The danger isn't in the car exploding like a bomb...it's just that the gas tank is completely unprotected, leaving it vulnerable in a rear-end accident. It would be punctured and then the gas spilling out can catch fire and burn the car up fairly rapidly.
Combined with door issues (they would stick in an accident, trapping you in) the Pinto was a regular death trap!
Of course, only 27 people have died in Pinto fires...so it's really not that bad
--------------------
Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.
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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 19,584
Loc: outer space
Last seen: 8 months, 5 days
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Re: Dangers of driving a Pinto? [Re: trendal]
#7580852 - 10/31/07 01:51 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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hmm. might look into other cheap options then. im sure some old fords can be found for like $800
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: Dangers of driving a Pinto? [Re: Crystal G]
#7580876 - 10/31/07 01:57 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Through early production of the model, it became a focus of a major scandal when it was alleged that the car's design allowed its fuel tank to be easily damaged in the event of a rear-end collision which sometimes resulted in deadly fires and explosions. Critics argued that the vehicle's lack of a true rear bumper as well as any reinforcing structure between the rear panel and the tank, meant that in certain collisions, the tank would be thrust forward into the differential, which had a number of protruding bolts that could puncture the tank. This, and the fact that the doors could potentially jam during an accident (due to poor reinforcing) made the car a potential deathtrap.
Ford was aware of this design flaw but allegedly refused to pay what was characterized as the minimal expense of a redesign. Instead, it was argued, Ford decided it would be cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits for resulting deaths. Mother Jones magazine obtained the cost-benefit analysis that it said Ford had used to compare the cost of an $11 repair against the cost of paying off potential law suits, in what became known as the Ford Pinto Memo.
wikipedia
wow...
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WhiskeyClone
Not here


Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,509
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Canada ...
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Re: Dangers of driving a Pinto? [Re: johnm214]
#7580884 - 10/31/07 01:58 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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A + B + C = X
-------------------- Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it. ~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 19,584
Loc: outer space
Last seen: 8 months, 5 days
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Re: Dangers of driving a Pinto? [Re: WhiskeyClone]
#7580966 - 10/31/07 02:13 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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i dunno, my dad drove a pinto and the only problems he had with his was that his car wouldnt start unless it was parked on a hill, and he'd have to push the car downhill to start the engine to get it in motion 
seems like a lot of work but what can you expect for $375
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