Dr David Klatzow was speaking on Wednesday about the death of 33-year-old Reshall Jimmy in his Ford Kuga while on holiday in Wilderness in December 2015.
Jimmy’s family is still seeking closure a year after the tragedy. Ford executives were not available to attend an inquiry earlier this week by the National Consumer Commission into whether the fire was caused by a safety flaw.
Klatzow‚ speaking to CapeTalk (www.capetalk.co.za) radio‚ said he was concerned that the car manufacturer was “putting their business interests above the safety of the motoring public” by withholding results of a third probe into the cause of the fatal fire. Two forensic reports‚ one done independently and the other by police‚ have pointed to an electrical fault as the cause.
“I’m concerned that Ford are playing closed book on this matter‚” said Klatzow.
This was in stark contrast to the way Honda reacted to a vehicle fire that claimed the life of satirist Justin Nurse's two-year-old daughter‚ Vanilla.
“I investigated the … very sad fire in which the little child of Justin Nurse died. That was a Honda Jazz. It’s very interesting to contrast the behaviour of Honda which was proper‚ which was professional and which went to the heart of the problem immediately‚” he said. “That’s in stark contrast to what has been happening in this case.”
He suggested that heads should roll at Ford for what was becoming a public relations disaster.
The Times reported that as many as 23 Kugas had caught fire this year. The Motor Industry Ombudsman has asked why he was not told about the potential safety issue.
Ford‚ in an earlier response to queries from The Times‚ said: "We take the safety of our customers very seriously. While we continually evaluate our processes for potential improvements‚ our decisions are driven by the data available. When the data indicate a safety recall is needed‚ we move quickly on behalf of our customers." – TMG Digital
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