William,
At 10:33 1/05/98 -0500, you wrote:
>... Most issues since then (Pinto, Audi, GM trucks, minivan hatches)
>have been simply accusations with anecdotal evidence (at best). But
>the media is glad to run with it (and even stage fake examples), the
>lawyers are willing to take the money, and the corporations are looking
>for the best way out. If that means settling questionable claims
>involving 0.01% of your total production vice completing a recall
>to fix a problem that doesn't resist in reality, then so be it.
Now your generalising irresponsibly. The case of the Pinto is part of the
curriculum for law schools and accounting schools. All they needed to do was
to fit gas tanks with a plastic liner, at about $15 per car, and they knew it.
Not to mention that the Pinto/Bobcat is one of the most pathetic attempts to
build a small car the Americans ever made: small-car performance +
motor-home handling + bobsled comfort.
("Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it" (or something very like
that).)
However, I agree with you - in principle.
Allen Nugent
Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering
University of New South Wales
Sydney 2052 Australia
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