By Hal Lewis, Partner

In April 2001, the United States Department of Transportation issued a consumer advisory that warned the public about the frequent rollover risks associated with loaded 15-passenger vans. However, very few people were made aware of this advisory, and all of the major automotive manufacturers are still producing these dangerous vehicles with no safety changes. Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer hopes that by printing this article, we will shed more light on this previously unknown problem.

According to federal statistics, these “long vans” have been involved in hundreds of single-vehicle rollovers in the past two decades, many of which followed a rear tire blowout that would have been fairly innocent in any other type of vehicle. There were 2,513 people involved in these crashes, of which 432 were killed and 881 received incapacitating injuries. Again, these numbers are only from instances where the “long van” rolled over on its own – without even being struck by another vehicle!

The primary cause of the rollover problem is that loading ten or more passengers in a “long van” will significantly shift the vehicle’s center of gravity upwards away from the “base” of the van, making it overly “top heavy.” And while this makes this vehicle 300% more likely to roll over than when it is empty, it also increases the potential for loss of control in panic maneuver situations.

The federal government regulates these 15-passenger vans as “buses” rather than passenger cars because of their large seating capacity. However, because these vans lack many of the safety features required in school buses, it is illegal under federal law for new “long vans” to be sold directly for school use. Unfortunately, many of these vans are still finding their way to schools and churches as “slightly used” vehicles that are not covered by the law.

The automotive manufacturers have attempted to shift the blame by arguing that “driver inexperience” is the cause of the problem. But statistics show that even the most experienced drivers don’t have experience in handling the degree of inadequate stability that these “long vans” exhibit. The problem is clearly with the vehicles themselves, not the drivers. In addition to life-threatening rollovers, there are other dangers associated with these 15-passenger vans that are not common in ordi-nary passenger vehicles. “Fishtailing” and “oversteering” occur more frequently because these heavy vehicles are only equipped with single rear tires that do not, when fully loaded, have adequate rear traction to allow safe steering maneuvers.

In addition, the long side windows on these vans are not required to be laminated safety glass, so they frequently shatter in accidents, allowing occupant ejection and causing severe laceration injuries. Moreover, most of the middle passenger seats do not include a three-point seatbelt and shoulder harness – even though the same vans do include this important safety feature when sold in Europe or Australia!

The simple fact of the matter is that 15-passenger vans do not have the same structural strength and safety requirements as school buses. They lack roof rollover bars, superior joint strength, high-back padded seats and modified fuel tank shield protection. Yet despite the lack of these rollover protection features, “long vans” with ten or more passengers are by far the easiest passenger vehicle to “tip over” from a physics and engineering standpoint. Hopefully, by increasing the public awareness of these hazards, Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer can help prevent future tragedies of this nature.

(Just after this article was written by Mr. Lewis, a “long van” carrying 11 firefighters from Oregon to Colorado made national headlines when it rolled over several times due to a momentary distraction of the driver. Four of the firemen died, and several others were seriously injured, showing once again how dangerous these vehicles can be.).