On August 10, 1978, three teenage girls died horribly in an automobile accident. Driving a 1973 Ford Pinto to their church volleyball practice in Goshen, Indiana, they were struck from behind by a Chevrolet van. The Pinto’s fuel tank ruptured and the car exploded in flames. Two passengers, Lynn Marie Ulrich, 16, and her cousin, Donna Ulrich, 18, were trapped inside the inferno and burned to death. After three attempts, Lynn Marie’s sister, 18-year-old Judy Ann, was dragged out alive from the driver’s seat, but died in agony hours later in the hospital.

Put yourself in the role of the recall coordinator for Ford Motor Co. It’s 1973, and field reports have been coming in about rear-end collisions, fires, and fatalities. You must decide whether to recall the automobile.
a. Identify the relevant facts.
b. Identify the pertinent ethical issues and points of ethical conflict.
c. Identify the relevant affected parties.
d. Identify the possible consequences of alternative courses of action.
e. Identify relevant obligations.
f. Identify your relevant community standards that should guide you as a person of integrity.
g. Check your gut.
h. What will you decide?