Family settles with Ford over burning limousine

[johnnymk]

A Mocksville family has settled a lawsuit filed after a Ford Motor Co. limousine erupted into flames in a rear-end collision, killing the wife of a former NASCAR crew chief and her two sisters, lawyers for both sides said Wednesday.

Neither side would disclose terms ending a wrongful-death lawsuit over the safety of the fuel-tank system in Lincoln Town Car limousines, manufactured by Ford.The three women were stopped in traffic on Interstate 40 in Greensboro on Sept. 10, 2003, after attending a concert. A pickup truck driven by Jeffrey Niles McFayden rammed into the back of their limousine.

Tara Howell Parker, 29, her stepsister Mysti Howell Poplin, 24, and her half sister Megan Elizabeth Howell, 16, died of smoke inhalation and burns suffered in the fire. Parker was the wife of NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett's former crew chief.

Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes blamed the deaths on the driver, who collided with the limo at 60 mph. -- Associated Press

[ArkiStan]

Oh my god! Cars can catch on fire when rear-ended at 60MPH??

[Cubsfan]

So I realize they settled, but could this be a way for the driver of the pickup to get a lesser charge? "They died because the car was faulty, not because I hit them"

[Grimm]

So I realize they settled, but could this be a way for the driver of the pickup to get a lesser charge? "They died because the car was faulty, not because I hit them"
No, because as it was settled and there was no public disclosure there is no way to prove it just wasn't dropped for lack of merit.

[mechmike0034]

Ford also got a grilling on this over the Crown Vic police cars, which are the same basic design. The part that you didn't read about or hear was how many of the allegedly unsafe Crown Vics had cop equipment or relocated jacks and lug wrenches (moved to install cop equipment) that were driven into and pierced the fuel tank on impact.

Equipment installers sometimes mount radio equipment to the trunk floor with sheet metal screws - also a big no-no as the protruding screws can puncture the tank on impact as well.