CORPORATE HOMICIDE: A NEW ASSAULT ON CORPORATE DECISION-MAKING (THE FORD PINTO CASE AS ONE EXAMPLE)

On 13 September 1978, an Elkhart County, Indiana, grand jury indicted the Ford Motor Company on three counts of reckless homicide. Ford was charged with recklessly designing and manufacturing a 1973 Pinto and allowing the vehicle to remain on the highway. The faulty design and manufacture of the car were alleged to have caused the Pinto to explode upon rear-end impact in a 10 August 1978 traffic accident, resulting in the death of its three occupants. The criminal liability of a corporation for homicide is discussed in the context of the Pinto case, focusing on the legality and practicality of such prosecutions. The conclusion is that corporate criminal liability for homicide is ambiguous, stemming from two factors: the relatively few attempts to indict corporations for homicide, and the adoption of traditional definitions of homicide in statutes, which lack a clear legislative intent to extend liability to corporations. Most of the ambiguity in statutory language can be resolved by substituting "a" for "another" preceding "human being" in the description of the victim in the homicide statute. The prevailing trend in the courts appears to favor corporate criminal liability for homicide, although the issue is unresolved in most jurisdictions. The option to prosecute supplements the civil process and, in some states, may be the only practical recourse. Corporate criminal liability for homicide introduces a factor into industry decision making which operates to promote product safety. Such liability is justified by its deterrence of reckless disregard for consumer safety.

• Corporate Authors:

  Notre Dame University

  School of Law, P.O. Box 486
  Notre Dame, Indiana,   United States  46556
• Authors:
  • Clark, G A
• Publication Date: 1979-6

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 911-924
• Serial:
  • NOTRE DAME LAWYER
  • Volume: 54

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile industry; Case studies; Corporations; Decision making; Defects; Fatalities; Legal documents; Liability; Vehicle design; Vehicle safety
• Identifier Terms: Ford Motor Company
• Old TRIS Terms: Legal studies; Vehicular safety
• Subject Areas: Design; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00390978
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-028 688
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 30 1984 12:00AM