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What's a Camp to Do?
For some time now, media has highlighted accidents in fifteen-passenger
vans. We’ve talked about it here in CampLine. We’ve offered camps numerous
resources upon which to rely in making their decision about transportation.
We’ve updated you on what insurance companies are saying. What more can
be said? Well, here’s what we know:
On November 1, 2002, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
issued a safety recommendation to the Ford Motor Company and the General
Motors Corporation:
The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that manufacturers
of fifteen-passenger vans evaluate, in conjunction with the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and test as appropriate, the
potential of technological systems, particularly electronic stability
control systems, to assist drivers in maintaining control of fifteen-passenger
vans.1
According to the NTSB, various technological systems have been developed
to assist drivers in maintaining control of a vehicle. These include:
antilock brakes, traction control, lane departure systems, and electronic
stability systems (ECS). ECS systems are computer-controlled systems that
attempt to stabilize the vehicle by monitoring a vehicle’s movement and
the direction the driver is steering. If driver inputs and vehicle response
do not correspond, computer controls intervene to enhance the driver’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle by selectively braking individual
wheel(s) or changing power applied to the wheels.2 The NTSB
wants manufacturers to test the viability of using these technological
systems on fifteen-passenger vans.
In lawsuits by injured passengers and families of loved ones who have
died, it has been alleged that the vans are defective because they are
unduly susceptible to rollover. According to government statistics, at
least 424 persons have been killed and hundreds injured in rollover crashes
involving the large, heavy vans since 1990.3 Recent, high-profile
crashes in 2002 include:
- On September 12, fourteen loggers from Honduras and Guatemala perished
in northern Maine when their 2002 Dodge fifteen-passenger van slipped
off a one-lane bridge into a remote river — the single deadliest crash
in state history.
- On August 24, in the Bay Area of California, the driver of a Ford
E-350 on his way to an amusement park while on Highway 101 in Redwood
City swerved to avoid a car in the lane he was changing into and lost
control. The van turned over several times, ejecting eight riders, two
of whom suffered critical head injuries.
- In July, a Ford Super Club Wagon van carrying six cheerleaders rolled
over near Birmingham, Alabama. Five passengers were ejected; two were
killed. The others suffered injuries ranging from a dislocated hip to
partial paralysis.
- Five firefighters from Oregon who were traveling toward a massive
wildfire south of Denver, Colorado, were killed in June when their twenty-one-year-old
colleague and driver reportedly reached for something inside the fifteen-passenger
van — a Ford E-350 — allowing the van to drift into the median, and
then he overcorrected, which caused the van to roll over four times.
Another lawsuit may well become ground-breaking. On May 8, 2001, twelve
women were driving to a Gainesville, Texas, outlet mall in a church-owned
van when one of its Michelin XCH4 tires suddenly lost its tread. The driver
could not bring the 1993 Dodge Ram under control. The Dodge Ram quickly
crossed into the center median and rolled over several times. The driver
and three passengers were killed, and other passengers were disabled.
Eleven victims or their families are suing DaimlerChrysler AG, the maker
of the Dodge Ram 3500 van, and Michelin for product liability. The plaintiffs
alleged that DaimlerChrysler was aware of the possibility of a tire failure
and how difficult the vehicle would be to handle in that event, but failed
to provide proper warning about the risks of driving the van.4
This Texas case is expected to be the first of its kind to be decided
by a jury. If the jury sides with the plaintiffs, commentators have suggested
it could lead to a recall or redesign of large vans.5
Federal law prohibits the sale of fifteen-passenger vans for school-related
transport of students in high school or younger. There is no prohibition
for college-age students or other passengers.6
On April 15, 2002, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), issued a warning to users of fifteen-passenger
vans because of an increased rollover risk under certain conditions. A
similar warning was issued in 2001. The safety agency reported that fifteen-passenger
vans have a rollover risk that increases dramatically as the number of
occupants increases from fewer than five to more than ten.
Fifteen-passenger vans, with ten occupants, had a rollover rate in single
vehicle crashes that is nearly three times the rate of those that were
lightly loaded. When carrying fifteen passengers, the vans are almost
six times as likely to roll over.7
The increased risk in fully loaded vans was found attributable to a higher
center of gravity, making the vans more susceptible to rolling over. The
greater passenger weight in a fully loaded van raises the van’s center
of gravity and shifts it rearward. As a result, the van has less resistance
to rollover and handles differently from other commonly driven passenger
vehicles, making it more difficult to control in emergency situations.
Placing any load on the roof also raises the center of gravity and increases
the likelihood of a rollover.8
The NHTSA has recommended that:
- Fifteen-passenger vans be operated by trained, experienced drivers.
- All occupants wear seat belts at all times. (NHTSA found that 80
percent of those who died in fifteen-passenger van rollovers nationwide
in the year 2000 were not buckled up.)
- Regularly check tire pressure and treadware to ensure that the tires
are properly inflated and the tread is not worn down.
As we have reported previously in CampLine, in some cases, insurance
companies that specialize in institutional policies for schools and churches
have decided to drop coverage for fifteen-passenger vans. Studies of claims
in accidents involving fifteen-passenger vans indicated eight deaths and
forty-two serious injuries in a two-year period ending in 2001. Guide
One, the Nation’s largest church insurance company, no longer issues new
policies on fifteen-passenger vans and urges customers to purchase smaller
school buses as an alternative.9
So, What to Do?
- First and foremost, educate yourself and others at your camp. Do
your own research. Read everything you can about the issue. An excellent
reading list is available at ACA’s Web Site: www.ACAcamps.org/publicpolicy.
- Talk to your insurance carrier. Discuss coverage and risk.
- Evaluate your situation. How do you use transportation? How often
do you transport campers? What are the road conditions you travel?
- Make your decision. Ask the tough question before you have to — if
an accident should happen, how would you defend your decision in court?
- If you decide to use fifteen-passenger vans, ACA strongly encourages
you to follow all of the NTSB’s recommendations, require adequate training
for drivers, limit the amount of weight placed on the vehicle, do not
tow a trailer behind a fully-loaded van, and require the use of seat
belts.
Originally published in the 2003 Winter issue
of The CampLine.
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