ABSTRACT
The myth that ethics has no place in engineering has been attacked, and at least in some corners of the engineering profession has been put to rest. Another myth, however, is emerging to take its place--the myth of the engineer as moral hero. A litany of engineering saints is slowly taking form. The prosecution had to show that Ford was reckless in placing the gas tank where and how it did. In order to show this the prosecution had to prove that Ford consciously disregarded harm it might cause and the disregard, according to the statutory definition of "reckless," had to involve "substantial deviation from acceptable standards of conduct." The state of the art of engineering technology determines a floor below which no manufacturer should ethically go. Engineers in large corporations have an important role to play. That role, however, is not usually to set policy or to decide on the acceptability of risk.
