Crown Victoria Safety Alert News 2004

Prairie View officer killed when cruiser rear-ended
Associated Press A Prairie View police officer was killed when a pickup slammed into the rear of his police cruiser. Officer Jerome Sobieski died inside his patrol car after the impact caused his 1999 Ford Crown Victoria to erupt in flames early Sunday. Sobieski was parked on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 290, watching for speeders and drunken drivers, when the wreck occurred before dawn. Investigators are awaiting results of a blood-alcohol test on the man driving the truck. He wasn’t hurt.

Judge Donald C. Nugent issued the remand order May 21 saying that federal courts did not have jurisdiction in any of the cases except one. The cases had been grouped before the Cleveland court since 2002 in a process known as Products Liability Multi-District Litigation (MDL).

The decision clears the way for state courts to begin setting hearing dates.

“Ford will now have to start answering tough questions posed by municipalities and law enforcement agencies across the country about why it continued to make a car that was killing police officers, and why it continued to deceive the country about the safety of the Crown Victoria,” said David Perry, of Corpus Christi, TX, a leading attorney in the MDL litigation.

The class-action lawsuits returned to state court involve the following plaintiffs:
The cities of Malvern, AR; Atlantic City, NJ; Hoover, AL; Montrose, AR; Indianapolis, IN; Ball, LA; and Lexington, MS; Nueces County, TX; Montgomery Township, PA; the State of Louisiana, and the following individuals: Charlie Morris, Florida; Paul and Theresa Abbott, Florida; Sheriff Harry Lee, Louisiana; Gregory Champagne, Louisiana, and Joseph Ragas, Louisiana.

One case involving an individual, Daniel Smith, of Florida, was retained by the court.

Among other things, Ford had maintained that the lawsuits belonged in federal court because they were preempted by federal law through the Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Act, and that relief would require a federal recall. Judge Nugent ruled, however, in favor of the plaintiffs, who asserted that all cases were state statutory or common law claims.

At least 18 police officers have been killed in fuel-fed fires in Ford police cars.

Metzler, 31, died Oct. 23, 2002, of smoke inhalation and burns when his police car was struck by a speeding Jeep Wrangler.

The Crown Victoria’s gas tank exploded shortly after impact.

His parents, Philip and Patricia Metzler of Colorado Springs, Colo., filed a lawsuit accusing Ford of negligence, aggravated assault and malice.

Perry said the end of the lawsuit has brought some relief for Patricia Metzler.

Philip Metzler died of cancer last year.

Perry said Patricia Metzler has been most comforted by Dallas officials’ aggressive efforts to make their police cars safer.

“The city told her they were going to do everything they could to make sure it wasn’t going to happen to another officer,” he said. “She feels they have kept their promise.”

Since Metzler’s death, the city has retrofitted its Crown Victorias with gas-tank shields and converted some of its fleet to run on compressed natural gas.

Officials also plan to install panels that would release a fire suppressant when crushed.

The Metzler lawsuit was one of several nationwide filed by families of police officers killed in Crown Victoria patrol cars. It does not, however, affect the class action lawsuit against Ford that the City of Dallas is a part of, nor does it end the city’s efforts to get Ford to make substantial changes to the vehicle’s design.

Last year, Metzler’s parents came to town to announce they were suing Ford in the death of their son. The family’s attorney said Tuesday that Ford is settling with the Metzler family; terms were not disclosed.

Former colleagues of Officer Metzler said it brings one part of this tragedy to a close.

“It stops that pain and suffering that they would have gone through if it had gone to trial,” said Sgt. Glenn White of the Dallas Police Association. “They don’t look at it as a victory, they still don’t have a son, no amount of money is going to bring Patrick back … so, you know, I think it’s vindication.”

The city’s fight with Ford, however, is far from over.

“I think they continue to have a problem with the fact that there are cars on the road,” said Dallas city attorney Madeleine Johnson. “There are still dangerous vehicles.”

Nationwide, dozens of Crown Victoria police cars have exploded when rear-ended. Approximately 18 peace officers have been killed.

Ford insists the cars are safe, but Dallas is moving to improve the safety of its Crown Victoria fleet by installing fire packs. On impact, they release a fire suppressant powder to douse flames.

Dallas still expects Ford to pick up the bill, but the car maker says “no.”

“I would like to see if we can get this resolved without going to court,” Johnson said. “We’ll see what happens, but we do intend to continue to pursue that claim.”

Meanwhile, city officials expect the city’s 775 Crown Victorias to be fitted with the packs by the end June.

Ford would not comment on the suit.

The Metzler’s attorney said one thing the family is still free to do is continue to speak out on the safety of the Crown Victorias. In many lawsuits, people settle to simply put the trouble behind them, but he said in this case, the Metzler family said it will continue to speak out and keep their son’s memory alive, until they feel the police cruisers used by so many police officers across the country are safe.

Court Finds Ford CVPI Advertising Deceptive and Misleading
The controversy revolves around Ford’s “trunk pack” which is being made available to police agencies to help protect the fuel tank of the CVPI from being punctured from the rear. In July of last year, because Ford had not crash tested vehicles equipped with the trunk packs, the City of Dallas obtained independent crash testing which indicated that the trunk packs may actually cause the tanks to split on impact. Ford responded with a brochure attacking the Dallas testing and claiming that it had actually successfully tested vehicles equipped with the trunk packs.

Ford engineers admit in deposition that Ford had never conducted “fuel system integrity” testing on production vehicles
Deposition testimony taken from Ford engineers showed that no “fuel system integrity” testing on production vehicles had ever been conducted by Ford. The testing to which Ford referred was conducted on experimental vehicles and actually resulted in punctures of the fuel tanks. Ford engineers admitted that no production level vehicle had ever been tested with the trunk packs.