Compact Sum

Ford agrees to Pinto payout

The Ford Motor Co. paid defense lawyers more than $1 million to fight Indiana's charges that, because of design faults, it was guilty of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three teen-agers whose Pinto was rear-ended in 1978. After a dramatic trial, the giant automaker won. Last week it compensated the parents of the three girls. The total amount: $22,500. In exchange, the families promised not to sue Ford in civil court. The $7,500-a-person payoff is a mere fraction of the million-dollar settlement Ford has agreed to in some of the 50 civil suits involving the ill-fated car.

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