From: C. E. White on

"Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote in message
news:4af99336$2(a)newsgate.x-privat.org...
>
> "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:C71E468E.13782%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/9/09 8:42 PM, in article 4af8d31f$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org,
>> "Al Falfa"
>> <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> "Vic Smith" <thismailautodeleted(a)comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:o5ghf55evnloee9me5bh2cpvq04ci88njn(a)4ax.com...
>>>> On Mon, 9 Nov 2009 18:50:37 -0600, "Al Falfa"
>>>> <crop(a)eastforty.fld>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Sharx35" <sharx35(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:md1Km.52154$PH1.8219(a)edtnps82...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:4af876a7$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:C71DA903.1376D%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
>>>>>>>> Paranoia at the time smeared across all Fords and for a
>>>>>>>> while, all you
>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>> find in the used car lots were used Fords as people dumped
>>>>>>>> them for
>>>>>>>> anything
>>>>>>>> else. I got a really nice '70 Torino wagon for $150 at the
>>>>>>>> height of
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> craziness. Drove it for 6 months until things settled down &
>>>>>>>> sold it
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> $500.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A friend of mine was crushed to death while unloading the
>>>>>>> trunk of her
>>>>>>> Ford when it jumped from park into reverse. Then, of course,
>>>>>>> there
>>>>>>> were
>>>>>>> the exploding gas tanks on those Chevrolet and GMC pickups.
>>>>>>> Tort
>>>>>>> reform.
>>>>>>> That's the answer.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What kind of idiot would unload the trunk with the engine
>>>>>> running and
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> Parking Brake not engaged?
>>>>> The parking brake was engaged.
>>>>
>>>> If it was the car wouldn't have moved.
>>>> But anyway, I never knew a driver that would thing twice about
>>>> opening
>>>> the trunk with a car running in park.
>>>> Anybody who says they've never done it is probably lying.
>>>> Might be some anal types who use a parking break in flatlands.
>>>> I never do, and often get in the trunk or check trans fluid level
>>>> with
>>>> the engine running and the parking brake not set.
>>>> Just put it in park.
>>>> Oh, I'm a real daredevil, ain't I? Evic Ksmith I am.
>>>> Might be more careful with a strange car, and use the e-brake,
>>>> but maybe not. Park is park.
>>>> Fords have had a number of these supposed incidents.
>>>> There was a supervisor who had his legs broken by a Ford sedan in
>>>> the
>>>> steel mills where I worked in 1968.
>>>> I'm not convinced they weren't "user error."
>>>> Was it ever proved they could slip from park?
>>>> Has that ever been determine for ANY car?
>>>> Most likely the cars were left in gear. Many autos can sit still
>>>> in
>>>> gear waiting for a slight engine surge to get them rolling.
>>>>
>>>> --Vic
>>>
>>> Start here:
>>>
>>> http://www.autosafety.org/srr/FP-R.pdf
>>>
>>> Much of this stuff predates the 'net. My friend was killed in the
>>> early
>>> 80s. Ford settled that one.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Most of this also predates auto recalls. Actually, this is the
>> sort of
>> stuff that led to the recall system.
>>
>
> Take another look at that link. Recalls are mentioned.

I remember that whole era. People were not careful about making sure
the transmission was in park. Ford sent my parents stickers for the
dash to remind the driver to put the car securely in park and apply
the parking brake before exiting the car with the engine running.
This was another trial lawyer driven frenzy. No one every wants to
admit their incompetence/stupiditiy was the actual cause of an
accident. Much more fun to hire a trial lawyer and sue a company with
deep pockets.

The only car I ever had "jump out of park" was the POS Cressida we
owned. And I didn't think it was the cars fault then. But since nobody
was injured, there was no point in trying to blame Toyota....too bad,
I suppose if I had run over my foot, I might have been able to sue
Toyota for big bucks...isn't that the American way?. Interestingly, in
the late 80's/early 90's the house next to mine at the time had
multiple cars crash through their side yard. The house across the
street was up a significant hill from the heighbors house. Three
different times they had cars roll down their driveway, across the
street, and into the neighbors side yard. None of the cars were same
(a Ford, a Toyota, and a Buick as I recall). Evey time the across the
street neighboor swore the cars were in park. Of course when the cars
were pulled out of the neighbors yard, they never were (lever near
park, key still in the ignition)....so obviously they mysteriously
jumped out of park. The problems stopped when the nighbors up the hill
moved (hope they moved to some place flat).

Ed


From: E. Meyer on
On 11/9/09 10:28 PM, in article 4af99336$2(a)newsgate.x-privat.org, "Al Falfa"
<crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote:

>
> "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:C71E468E.13782%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/9/09 8:42 PM, in article 4af8d31f$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org, "Al
>> Falfa"
>> <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> "Vic Smith" <thismailautodeleted(a)comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:o5ghf55evnloee9me5bh2cpvq04ci88njn(a)4ax.com...
>>>> On Mon, 9 Nov 2009 18:50:37 -0600, "Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Sharx35" <sharx35(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:md1Km.52154$PH1.8219(a)edtnps82...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:4af876a7$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:C71DA903.1376D%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
>>>>>>>> Paranoia at the time smeared across all Fords and for a while, all
>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>> find in the used car lots were used Fords as people dumped them for
>>>>>>>> anything
>>>>>>>> else. I got a really nice '70 Torino wagon for $150 at the height
>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> craziness. Drove it for 6 months until things settled down & sold
>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> $500.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A friend of mine was crushed to death while unloading the trunk of
>>>>>>> her
>>>>>>> Ford when it jumped from park into reverse. Then, of course, there
>>>>>>> were
>>>>>>> the exploding gas tanks on those Chevrolet and GMC pickups. Tort
>>>>>>> reform.
>>>>>>> That's the answer.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What kind of idiot would unload the trunk with the engine running and
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> Parking Brake not engaged?
>>>>> The parking brake was engaged.
>>>>
>>>> If it was the car wouldn't have moved.
>>>> But anyway, I never knew a driver that would thing twice about opening
>>>> the trunk with a car running in park.
>>>> Anybody who says they've never done it is probably lying.
>>>> Might be some anal types who use a parking break in flatlands.
>>>> I never do, and often get in the trunk or check trans fluid level with
>>>> the engine running and the parking brake not set.
>>>> Just put it in park.
>>>> Oh, I'm a real daredevil, ain't I? Evic Ksmith I am.
>>>> Might be more careful with a strange car, and use the e-brake,
>>>> but maybe not. Park is park.
>>>> Fords have had a number of these supposed incidents.
>>>> There was a supervisor who had his legs broken by a Ford sedan in the
>>>> steel mills where I worked in 1968.
>>>> I'm not convinced they weren't "user error."
>>>> Was it ever proved they could slip from park?
>>>> Has that ever been determine for ANY car?
>>>> Most likely the cars were left in gear. Many autos can sit still in
>>>> gear waiting for a slight engine surge to get them rolling.
>>>>
>>>> --Vic
>>>
>>> Start here:
>>>
>>> http://www.autosafety.org/srr/FP-R.pdf
>>>
>>> Much of this stuff predates the 'net. My friend was killed in the early
>>> 80s. Ford settled that one.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Most of this also predates auto recalls. Actually, this is the sort of
>> stuff that led to the recall system.
>>
>
> Take another look at that link. Recalls are mentioned.
>

I did say "most", not "all". Much of this discussion has been set in the
'60s & '70s.

I see the word "recall" in the list of stuff at that link. The interesting
title is "Why no Recall", which sort of implies the whole thing was
groundless.


From: Mike Hunter on
YA Right and the tooth fairy left that quarter under your pillow. LOL


"Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote in message
news:4af8b8ed$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org...
>
>>> A friend of mine was crushed to death while unloading the trunk of her
>>> Ford when it jumped from park into reverse. Then, of course, there were
>>> the exploding gas tanks on those Chevrolet and GMC pickups. Tort
>>> reform. That's the answer.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> What kind of idiot would unload the trunk with the engine running and the
>> Parking Brake not engaged?
> The parking brake was engaged.
>


From: Al Falfa on

"C. E. White" <cewhite3(a)mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:hdc5c1$rp5$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> I remember that whole era. People were not careful about making sure the
> transmission was in park. Ford sent my parents stickers for the dash to
> remind the driver to put the car securely in park and apply the parking
> brake before exiting the car with the engine running. This was another
> trial lawyer driven frenzy. No one every wants to admit their
> incompetence/stupiditiy was the actual cause of an accident. Much more fun
> to hire a trial lawyer and sue a company with deep pockets.
>
> The only car I ever had "jump out of park" was the POS Cressida we owned.
> And I didn't think it was the cars fault then. But since nobody was
> injured, there was no point in trying to blame Toyota....too bad, I
> suppose if I had run over my foot, I might have been able to sue Toyota
> for big bucks...isn't that the American way?. Interestingly, in the late
> 80's/early 90's the house next to mine at the time had multiple cars crash
> through their side yard. The house across the street was up a significant
> hill from the heighbors house. Three different times they had cars roll
> down their driveway, across the street, and into the neighbors side yard.
> None of the cars were same (a Ford, a Toyota, and a Buick as I recall).
> Evey time the across the street neighboor swore the cars were in park. Of
> course when the cars were pulled out of the neighbors yard, they never
> were (lever near park, key still in the ignition)....so obviously they
> mysteriously jumped out of park. The problems stopped when the nighbors up
> the hill moved (hope they moved to some place flat).
>
I remember that era too. Some of the automatic shift levers were very
poorly designed. In some cased the pointer would break loose and we had to
shift by feel. In other cases the pointer would move with the lever but
point at the wrong gear. Then there were cases where the linkage was so
sloppy we had to bump the lever at one end or the other to get the damn
thing into that gear. I think it was the latter case that led to my
friend's death. FWIW, she was a poor gal, unloading her laundry in front of
a Laundromat. Her two small children watched her die. I suppose her 70's
vintage Ford wasn't maintained very will and she probably set the brake
because it was hard to force it into park. Nobody will ever know what she
was thinking.

From: Al Falfa on

"E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:C71EF4EC.13797%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
> On 11/9/09 10:28 PM, in article 4af99336$2(a)newsgate.x-privat.org, "Al
> Falfa"
> <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote:
>
>>
>> "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:C71E468E.13782%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 11/9/09 8:42 PM, in article 4af8d31f$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org, "Al
>>> Falfa"
>>> <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Vic Smith" <thismailautodeleted(a)comcast.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:o5ghf55evnloee9me5bh2cpvq04ci88njn(a)4ax.com...
>>>>> On Mon, 9 Nov 2009 18:50:37 -0600, "Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Sharx35" <sharx35(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:md1Km.52154$PH1.8219(a)edtnps82...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Al Falfa" <crop(a)eastforty.fld> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:4af876a7$1(a)newsgate.x-privat.org...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>>> news:C71DA903.1376D%epmeyer50(a)gmail.com...
>>>>>>>>> Paranoia at the time smeared across all Fords and for a while, all
>>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>>> find in the used car lots were used Fords as people dumped them
>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>> anything
>>>>>>>>> else. I got a really nice '70 Torino wagon for $150 at the height
>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> craziness. Drove it for 6 months until things settled down & sold
>>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>> $500.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> A friend of mine was crushed to death while unloading the trunk of
>>>>>>>> her
>>>>>>>> Ford when it jumped from park into reverse. Then, of course, there
>>>>>>>> were
>>>>>>>> the exploding gas tanks on those Chevrolet and GMC pickups. Tort
>>>>>>>> reform.
>>>>>>>> That's the answer.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What kind of idiot would unload the trunk with the engine running
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> Parking Brake not engaged?
>>>>>> The parking brake was engaged.
>>>>>
>>>>> If it was the car wouldn't have moved.
>>>>> But anyway, I never knew a driver that would thing twice about opening
>>>>> the trunk with a car running in park.
>>>>> Anybody who says they've never done it is probably lying.
>>>>> Might be some anal types who use a parking break in flatlands.
>>>>> I never do, and often get in the trunk or check trans fluid level with
>>>>> the engine running and the parking brake not set.
>>>>> Just put it in park.
>>>>> Oh, I'm a real daredevil, ain't I? Evic Ksmith I am.
>>>>> Might be more careful with a strange car, and use the e-brake,
>>>>> but maybe not. Park is park.
>>>>> Fords have had a number of these supposed incidents.
>>>>> There was a supervisor who had his legs broken by a Ford sedan in the
>>>>> steel mills where I worked in 1968.
>>>>> I'm not convinced they weren't "user error."
>>>>> Was it ever proved they could slip from park?
>>>>> Has that ever been determine for ANY car?
>>>>> Most likely the cars were left in gear. Many autos can sit still in
>>>>> gear waiting for a slight engine surge to get them rolling.
>>>>>
>>>>> --Vic
>>>>
>>>> Start here:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.autosafety.org/srr/FP-R.pdf
>>>>
>>>> Much of this stuff predates the 'net. My friend was killed in the
>>>> early
>>>> 80s. Ford settled that one.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Most of this also predates auto recalls. Actually, this is the sort of
>>> stuff that led to the recall system.
>>>
>>
>> Take another look at that link. Recalls are mentioned.
>>
>
> I did say "most", not "all". Much of this discussion has been set in the
> '60s & '70s.
>
> I see the word "recall" in the list of stuff at that link. The
> interesting
> title is "Why no Recall", which sort of implies the whole thing was
> groundless.
>
Did you also see "ford faces biggest recall ever' which implies other,
smaller recalls? In fact, latent defects in manufacture have been corrected
since the automobile first hit the road.