Randy Barnhart

NHTSA Again Warns Against 15-Passenger Vans

Yet again, rather than get dangerous 15-passenger vans off the roads, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (See 2012 NHTSA warning here) is merely issuing the same old tired warnings to church groups and other community organizations which routinely use the deadly machines to transport their members.

Sure, you should buckle-up on "every trip, every time," as NHTSA says, but what about the design defect which leads to fatal rollovers?

NHTSA in fact admits "that 15-passenger vans are particularly sensitive to loading," and warns against "overloading these vehicles under any circumstances." But why are they particualrly sensitive to loading? Because of the design defect. Why should these vans not be overloaded under any circumstance? Because overloading only augments the already unacceptable propensity to rollover.

NHTSA admits that its "research shows overloading 15-passenger vans both increases rollover risk and makes the vehicle more unstable in any handling maneuvers." So again, why not attack the underlying cause, the design?

NHTSA correctly advises to use "appropriately-sized and load rated tires that are properly inflated before every trip." NHTSA also "recommends that spare tires not be used as replacements for worn tires. In fact, many tire manufacturers recommend that tires older than 10 years not be used at all." In fact, tires more than 6 years old are very risky.

NHTSA advises that only drivers "properly licensed and experienced in operating a 15-passenger van" should operate them, but no matter how experienced the driver, fatal rollovers continue to occur becasue of the desihn defect, a defect for which drivers cannot compensate while speeding down the highway.

New Video on Dangerous 15-Passenger Vans

KENSTV in San Antonio, TX recently ran this special report on the dangers
of 15-passenger vans, like the Ford E-350.

(visit my micro-blog on defective passenger vans)

Dangerous 15-Passenger Vans - Not Only Trial Lawyers Say So

Even the CEO of a fleet training and consulting corporation admonishes potenital clients of the dangerous 15-passenger van. This "x-ray" image reveals the instability defect of these death traps:

The 15-passenger van has been the subject of many studies over the years. It has beenscrutinized and closely examined for safety issues and its inability to handle certain situations and road conditions. Due to its design, it has been deemed one of the most unstable, most dangerous vehicles on the road. It is important to understand the dynamics of the 15-passenger van and what makes ita greater risk than most vehicles for accidents.

{source here}

The full document in .pdf form is avalable from the firm's box online account: link. 

Churches - Listen Up Here and Do the Right Thing

More than 10,000 churches continue to operate a vehicle that one major insurer of churches has declared "inherently unsafe."

GuideOne insures more than 50,000 churches nationwide. Of those, about 10,000 maintain policies on 15-passenger vans. Some of those churches own and insure more than one such van.
 
The insurer has strongly encouraged churches to stop using 15-passenger vans. "GuideOne believes 15-passenger vans to be inherently unsafe," the company said. "We encourage our policyholders to strongly consider other transportation options."
 
The company still covers 15-passenger vans it has already insured but has stopped writing new policies for the large vans.

via webmailimages.pastors.com

US ND CA to Test Digital Video Recording

The federal Judicial Conference is planning to launch a nationwide pilot program to digitally video record and broadcast certain district court civil proceedings. And the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has volunteered to participate.

via www.law.com

Recently, the firm had a 15-passenger van defect and rollover case removed to the US District Court for the Northern District of California, but we managed to have the case remanded to California state court, Alameda County. Still, it may be important for consumer protection to have a 15-passenger van rollover case video-taped so that the world may see how dangerous these defective vehicles can be.

15-Passenger Vans: Decades of Warnings and Fatal Crashes - Part 2

This series of posts is adapted from my article, of the same title above, which appeared in the December/January 2011 edition of Trial Talk, a publication of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. {Part 1 here}

Since 1982, the National Highway Transportation Safety Board (NHTSA), has regularly issued recommendations aimed at ensuring that school kids are not transported in 15-passenger vans -- unless the vans meet the school bus requirements. {3} (As of 2005, school-aged children are prohibited by federal law from being transported in 15-passenger vans for school-related activities. {4} ) In 2001, NHTSA began to focus more closely on the van's propensity to rollover, issuing the first of five Consumer Advisories warning motorists of the safety hazards, the latest advisory issuing in October 2010.

Government warnings have done little to reduce the death and injury rate in 15-passenger van accidents. According to independent statistical analysis, there have been 724 fatal rollovers in which at least one occupant of a 15-passenger van died, from 1982 through 2008. {5} In total, these crashes killed 1,153 persons and injured  1,957 severely. Over a four-year period from 2004-2008, 40 percent of those killed in a rollover crash were riding in 15-passenger vans with 10 or more occupants. {6}

Fifteen-passenger vans are less stable than other types of vehicles - especially when fully loaded with passengers - because of their high center of gravity. The 15-passenger van is the only vehicle in the U.S.  fleet today that is not recommended to be used for its intended purpose. In 2004, NHTSA conducted a study showing that the odds of a 15-passenger van rolling over increases as the number of occupants increases. The study found that the odds increase 400 percent if the van is fully loaded, versus if the van is solely occupied by the driver. {7}

Next - Part 3 - Irresponsible Manufacturers?

15-Passenger Vans: Decades of Warnings and Fatal Crashes - Part 1

This series of posts is adapted from my article, of the same title above, which appeared in the December/January 2011 edition of Trial Talk, a publication of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association.

INTRODUCTION

Fifteen passenger vans debuted in 1972 when Ford Motor Company transformed what it built as a cargo van into a passenger vehicle by adding five rows of seats. {1} Today, according to 2008 registrations, there are over 500,000 15-passenger vans on the roads.  {2} 

For years the transportation of choice for church groups, schools and athletic organizations, 15-passenger vans are unregulated, deemed to be commercial buses, and thus subject to few of the safety standards and protections of passenger cars or those that apply specifically to school buses.

Many tragic example of the dangers of the vehicles have been reported. Numerous lawsuits have been filed around the country. Due to their carrying capacity, a single rollover can kill or injure many people, including children and young adults. Seat belt use in 15-passenger vans is reduced by their unusual location and geometry. The problems are acute in the second, third and fourth row of seats. Some models have only lap belts in certain positions.

Next - Part 2 - Government Action?

See my micro-blog, focused on the danger of defective 15-passenger vans.

Micro-blogging 15-passenger van defects

The micro-blog platform, posterous.com or tumblr.com, for example,might work best for blogging a specific product defect which risks catastrophic injury or death. 

I started building such a micro-blog, 15-passenger van accident attorney, over the past few weeks to showcase the serious risks of driving and riding in defective 15-passenger vans. Here's a few posts:

Minister of Education, British Columbia: School Districts and 15-passenger vans

University of Montana Phases Out (?) Defective 15-Passenger Vans

Denver Post article: 15-passenger vans have history of deadly rollovers

I hope my micro-blog will be instructive both to other attorneys and to anyone interested in this serious social and legal problem.