I go to Blue Oval News from time to time and they keep posting about officers killed in their Crown Vics during high speed chases due to being rear ended and their gas tanks rupturing/catching fire.. Has anyone in their area heard of this locally and also who is rear ending them during the high speed chases??
Question about "Crown Vic" Police cruiser gas tanks exploding/fatalities
- Thread starter Wildpony
- Start date
I thought most of the accidents happened when the vic is parked on the side of the road? Then some body going 80+mph hits them and the car blows up.
The strange thing is is the fact that these cars have been around 10 years (rounded body style) and now this is happening. You would think that it would have happened back in 93 and Ford would have fixed any issues back then.
My father worked on the vic for 15 years and he told me that on many occasions officers shook his hand and thanked him because the car saved their life in accidents. I can tell you one thing, I would rather be in a vic then a intrepid/impala cop car in a rear end collision.
The strange thing is is the fact that these cars have been around 10 years (rounded body style) and now this is happening. You would think that it would have happened back in 93 and Ford would have fixed any issues back then.
My father worked on the vic for 15 years and he told me that on many occasions officers shook his hand and thanked him because the car saved their life in accidents. I can tell you one thing, I would rather be in a vic then a intrepid/impala cop car in a rear end collision.
The city of Dallas is suing Ford for this very reason at the present time.
The only incidents that I know of were of parked cars being hit at speeds exceeding 80mph and Ford is getting the blame.
I would think that any car that gets rear ended at 80mph would more than likely end up with a ruptured gas tank.
The only incidents that I know of were of parked cars being hit at speeds exceeding 80mph and Ford is getting the blame.
I would think that any car that gets rear ended at 80mph would more than likely end up with a ruptured gas tank.
My thoughts exactly:beer:
Yes I also agree. If a car gets hit in its rear by a car doing 80...its probably going to spring a fuel leak.
The way the articles read from "BON" was that the cars were hit during the actual Hi Speed chase- not sitting along a berm giving out a ticket.. That's why I wanted to know who was running into these cruisers??
In Dallas they were parked.
Probably a bunch of crazy GM owners mad that Ford still has a production car in there line up that is RWD, other than the stang, that is still working out for ford.
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What about Caddy's? Last time I checked all the Northstars were RWD
not so. Some are going back to rear wheel drive, but they were FWD.
There was that one case that happened maybe 4 or 5 months ago in Westchester, NY, where the cop was sitting in his car, and got hit at like 80, and died when his car exploded.
Theoretically, what if the cop is chasing at like 100 and spins out, crashes rear-first into a barrier of some sort. It hasn't happened, but I'm just saying, no one has to crash into them. And for the point that any car will blow a tank when hit with an 80mph difference, it might or might not happen. But for the crown vics, who are often on the side of the roads, it happens every time. Take for example the Pinto. Ford could've done a much better job with the fuel tank, and while the crown vics aren't so bad to that much of an extent (I'm not calling the vic a pinto, don't get me wrong), they could have been built better, or so the lawsuits claim, and Ford acknowledges some truth to the claim, or else they wouldn't have started retrofitting them to make them safer.
Theoretically, what if the cop is chasing at like 100 and spins out, crashes rear-first into a barrier of some sort. It hasn't happened, but I'm just saying, no one has to crash into them. And for the point that any car will blow a tank when hit with an 80mph difference, it might or might not happen. But for the crown vics, who are often on the side of the roads, it happens every time. Take for example the Pinto. Ford could've done a much better job with the fuel tank, and while the crown vics aren't so bad to that much of an extent (I'm not calling the vic a pinto, don't get me wrong), they could have been built better, or so the lawsuits claim, and Ford acknowledges some truth to the claim, or else they wouldn't have started retrofitting them to make them safer.
Why havent we seen vics exploding for the last 10 years then. They havent changed the car all that much.
alrighty boyz heres the deal! the problem as i understand it is that there are some bolts or screws that are located near and around the gas tank. they are more or less aimed at the gas tank. so when the car is hit from the rear the tank is pushed into the protruding bolts rupturing the tank and subsequently causing an explosion. the effected cars are the 98 and up body styles and there is a recall that corrects the problem. my patrol unit is a 2002 model and i had to take it in to have the recall performed. after a few months ford sends a second recall letter to check to make sure the recall work is holding up. the problem is correctable but it still makes me nervous sitting in my car on a traffic stop if i get to thinking about it. the speed that causes detonation is not 80mph its 55mph. this is the problem as i understand it and is not necessarily fact.
The recall is this, They take a file and file down the bolts. This is what Ive heard at least. And its not really a recall...you can just have it done if you want it done. At least this is what I heard about it last.
Guys, I build the frames for these units. It is without a doubt the most in-spec, and strongest frame ever put to a Crown. And yes I trusted them enough to want a Mercury Marauder myself. It was quashed by the wife who dislikes cars, and I ended up with another truck. As was already said, I'd feel safer in the Crown than a cruiser made of any other car. Sitting in ANY vehicle at the side of the road, ANY driver should feel unsafe.
I drive one almost every day at work. There is no problem with them in my opinion. I would be much more worried about getting rear ended at 80 MPH from a dead stop than the gas tank exploding.
Well then if they are getting hit at 70-80mph by motorists the officers are pretty much going to be "F'd " up whether or not the tank blows.
My take on the articles from BON was that they were getting blasted from behind during the high speed chase (ie. other officers running into the lead pursuer during the chase) I would think that would be the only other person following an officer in a high speed chase..
Either way it ain't good. Regardless of the car driven..
My take on the articles from BON was that they were getting blasted from behind during the high speed chase (ie. other officers running into the lead pursuer during the chase) I would think that would be the only other person following an officer in a high speed chase..
Either way it ain't good. Regardless of the car driven..
I'm with you, deceleration trauma kills. better have that head rest adjusted prroperly or you body will stay in front deat and your head will exit rear window.
My buddy Trooper Hung Lee of LASP in troop B was killed in an incident such as this. He was simply providing traffic control for a road contruction project and was rear ended. When the unit exploded, the unburnt fuel in the tank behind him splashed all over him. When they got him out, they found the rounds in his magazines and his gun went off from the intense heat. He didn't live long after that. My car had the fix and so did everyone else's in my dept. after that.
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