Ford requests crash test delay for 2002 Explorer model

WASHINGTON (Sept. 11)—Ford Motor Co. has asked the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to delay crash testing of the 2002 Explorer model until it can make structural changes in the vehicle's design to handle the IIHS's offset-crash tests, an institute official told Reuters News Service. The move comes after two other Ford vehicles—the F150 pickup and Escape SUV—were given "poor" and "marginal" ratings, respectively, in recent IIHS tests. The IIHS crash-tests vehicles into an offset aluminum honeycomb structure at 40 mph—a type of crash the institute says reflects real-world traffic situations. "It´s almost like the Ford truck division has not been paying attention, and now they suddenly are ´getting religion´—forcibly so," IIHS President Brian O´Neill told Reuters. A Ford spokeswoman told the news agency the company had "discovered some ways to make some improvements," but did not elaborate.