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Weekly Recap: Auto execs face life in prison for recall delays under proposed legislation

The stiff punishments are part of broader transportation legislation, but clearly McCaskill has automakers in her sights.
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill threw down the gauntlet this week, proposing a bill that could send auto executives to prison for life if they were found to have delayed a recall. She also wants to eliminate the limit for fines for auto safety violations, which are currently capped at $35 million.

Ford Police Interceptors win acceleration war against Dodge, Chevy

Just last month, Ford announced its first-ever non-pursuit-rated version of the Police Interceptor sedan for agencies looking to maximize fuel economy, but that doesn't mean that Ford is giving up on chasing down the bad guys. While the Dodge Charger can lay claim to the fastest lap time at the Grattan Raceway test facility held by the Michigan State Police, the results are now in for the Police Vehicle Evaluation acceleration tests. And Ford's Police Interceptor duo (sedan and utility) came out on top.
In the acceleration tests, Ford says that the Taurus-based PI Sedan with the newly available 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 was the quickest among prospective police cars in both 0-60 and 0-100 mile per hour times. The sedan posted a 0-60 time of 5.66 seconds with all-wheel drive and 5.71 seconds with front-wheel drive, besting V8-powered competitors like the Chevy Caprice and Dodge Charger by more than 0.3 seconds. These rivals close the gap on the AWD sedan in the 0-100 test with the Ford taking 13.5 seconds compared to the Chevy's time of 14.35 and the Dodge's time of 14.7.
As for utility vehicles, the Explorer-based PI Utility, which accounts for 60 percent of Ford's police vehicle sales, essentially went head-to-head with the V8-powered Chevy Tahoe with similar results. Equipped with the new EcoBoost engine option, this big SUV hit 60 mph in just 6.28 seconds and 100 mph in 15.51 seconds compared to times of 8.22 seconds and 21.95 seconds, respectively, for the Tahoe. Other important tests in the PVE include braking and top speed, but while no automakers have stepped up to boast about their numbers in either of these categories, Ford's images show that the V8 Caprice had the highest top speed of the cars at 155 mph while the Tahoe's 139-mph speed made it the fastest utility vehicle.

Ford recalls 1.3 million Fusions, MKZs: Steering wheels could come off

When driving a car, the steering wheel is only expected to move in a rotational fashion, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. When it moves in some other direction, something is wrong, and when it moves the wrong way enough that it is no longer attached to the steering column, that's a really, really bad thing. And apparently, according to a recall issued by Ford, there are over 1.3 million Ford Fusions and Lincoln MKZs that are at risk of this happening. And at least two accidents and one injury have been attributed to the issue. Ford says the problem is that the steering wheel bolt that keeps the wheel attached to the column might not provide enough torque, resulting in the bolt slowly loosening and working its way off the column. The good news is that the fix is really simple. Ford will install a larger bolt with more threads along with a larger nylon patch to keep it all locked down. The fix is completely free to owners. Cars affected by the recall include 2014 to 2017 Fusions built built at the Flat Rock plant in Michigan between August 6, 2013, and February 29, 2016. Model year 2014-2018 Fusions and MKZs built at the Hermosillo factory in Mexico are also affected. So if you have one of those sedans, please get in touch with your local dealer to have the issue addressed. Related Video: