The "contrived collision tests" are actual, standardized, government monitored collision tests, with verifiable results. Your "actual data of people driving the

The "contrived collision tests" are actual, standardized, government monitored collision tests, with verifiable results. Your "actual data of people driving the car" is not from the period when these claims were made. Again, the vast majority of early model Pintos produced that had not already combusted had at that point already been recalled. The Rutgers report is about the lawsuit, not the safety of the automobile, as mentioned. It's also just an opinion piece. Though it does cite some data! Can you check the PDF? Upon its publication the Pinto accounted for 1.9% of vehicles on the road, 1.9% of vehicles involved in fatalities, and 4.1% of vehicles involved in fatalities involving rear impact. So maybe the Pinto was actually overall a pretty safe car! Except for exploding upon rear impact. Which is, you know, the defect in question.