> The crown vic police interceptor (which is likely what the op is talking about) is a fairly "modern" vehicle
Yes, it is.
> I'm not sure when they stopped making them, but it had to be sometime in the early-2000s, maybe a bit later.
The CVPI (Crown Victoria Police Interceptor) and the Crown Victoria itself were retired in 2011. Their immediate replacement from Ford was a Taurus based Interceptor sedan and SUV. Most officers I know derided the new Interceptor platform for having less acceleration and smaller interior space than the old CV platform. Where I live, the Dodge Charger police vehicle became much more popular after the CVPI was retired.
> The one potential issue with a crown vic that would make it more dangerous that other cars is that it had a saddle fuel tank. Ford did not learn the lesson of their Pinto. Rear-end accidents with a crown vic had the potential to turn in to fiery death-traps. It wasn't until a police detective here in Phoenix got horribly injured (but survived) did they make modifications to police fleet vehicles (I think they put in a racing fuel bladder or something like that in the tanks). I don't believe such modifications were implemented for standard civilian crown vics...
This is correct. The last revision of the CVPI (2004 to 2011) had a ton of safety improvements, including to the gas tank.
> Regardless, the crown vic isn't the same as much older vehicles. While it likely isn't up to modern crash standards, it is still a fairly new vehicle that does have crumple zones and such, and won't spear someone thru the heart with the steering column in a front-end collision.
It's still one of the safer (for the driver) cars on the road today, though its weight and bulk make it more likely to cause the most damage to other vehicles in any accident it's involved in. And you're exactly right about the steering column, it's a breakaway design. I know this because I've had to replace a dash component that required unbolting the steering wheel and column.