SAFETY OF FORD POLICE CARS IN QUESTION
Police officials in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler tell the
Arizona Republic newspaper that they are re-assessing the
safety record of a popular Ford car used commonly in police
work. The announcement comes in the wake of the death of
popular 25-year-old Officer Robert Nielsen, whose Ford Crown
Victoria cruiser was struck on a busy street this week and
burst into flames. Nielsen is the third Arizona officer to
die in the crash of that model of cruiser this year. The car,
commonly called a "Crown Vic," is one of the few remaining
production line vehicles that is built to national police
standards. The other, in recent years, has been the jellybean-
shaped Chevrolet Caprice. Nielsen died when his car was forced
into a telephone pole and nearly exploded in what witnesses
call a "massive fireball." Meanwhile, the manager of one fleet
of Crown Victorias in the Phoenix area told News-12 television
that many of that model of cars have been modified in local
garages to move a large bolt from away from the fuel tank.
That bolt is thought to have been responsible for puncturing
the tanks in previous crashes. Newer Crown Victorias have
been modified by Ford to lessen the chances of fire.
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