f the tank higher on the vehicle would also raise the car's center of gravity, decrease the cars overall handling performance and degrade safety in general.
             During the Pinto's blueprint stage, the federal government had no standards for how safe a car's fuel system needed to be when the car suffered a rear crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed the first rear-end fuel system integrity standards in January of 1969. "Standard 301" required that a stationary vehicle should leak less than one ounce of fuel per minute after being hit by a 4,000 pound barrier moving at 20 mph. Ford embraced the rule and conducted test to determine if the Pinto complied. The tests yielded mixed results and Ford implemented additional design features to address some of these issues before the first car rolled off the assembly line in August of 1970.
             The NHTSA later announced its intention to implement a 20-mph fixed-barrier standard. This change was opposed by the auto industry because fixed barrier accidents were unlikely and the physics of a fixed barrier impact were much more extreme than in a moving barrier scenario. Nevertheless, Ford conducted tests to determine what impact the new standards would have on the pinto.
             In the test for both a 20-mph and 30-mph fixed barrier collision, the Pinto exhibited excessive leakage that would require a major overhaul of the design to avoid. A solution was presented involving the installation of a rubber bladder into the gas tank. The bladders provided additional crash worthiness at a cost of $5.80, but presented unacceptable problems in both hot and cold weather and so were never installed.
             The NHTSA also proposed standards for leakage during a rollover scenario. Ford determined that the rollover standard might be met by installing a valve at a cost of $11 per car. A cost-benefit analysis prepared by Ford concluded that the cost of the modifications exceede...