1978.06 Pinto Fraud

The Pinto never had a worse fire/fatality record that similar sized car, but ABC's 20/20 didn't offer that context, and instead used a film that had an incendiary device show that if a Ford Sedan was rear-ended at 55 MPH, it could blow up. This sensational FakeNews convinced people for generations that Pinto's were unsafe.

Basics

• the Pinto averaged 310 fatalities a year, Toyota Corolla averaged 313, the VW Beetle 374, Datsun 1200 had 405.
• fiery rear-end collisions comprised only 0.6% of car fatalities

📚 References https://www.wardsauto.com/blog/my-somewhat-begrudging-apology-ford-pinto http://www.fordpinto.com/index.php?page=228 Return : Fake News, ABC