Bill aimed at making 15-passenger vans safer

WASHINGTON – Responding to safety concerns resulting from deadly accidents involving 15-passenger vans, U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe has introduced legislation to improve van safety by requiring rollover testing and advanced technological systems testing, and by closing loopholes which put schoolchildren at risk.

“Since 1990, more than 400 people have lost their lives in van rollover accidents and hundreds more have been seriously injured,” said Snowe, a member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation.

On Sept. 12, 2002, 14 foreign forestry workers were killed when their 15-passenger van rolled off a bridge over the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine. The sole survivor escaped when he kicked out the rear window of the sinking van.

Last year, the government renewed a safety warning for 15-passenger vans and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration found that, when carrying 10 or more people, these vans are more likely to roll over than lightly loaded vans. About 500,000 15-passenger vans are in use on U.S. highways and, according to NHTSA, such vans were involved in more than 260 accidents between 1990 and 2000, resulting in more than 420 deaths.

Among its provisions, Snowe’s “Passenger Van Safety Act of 2003”:

. Requires the NHTSA to include 15-passenger vans in their dynamic rollover testing program.

. Requires NHTSA to include 15-passenger vans in their New Car Assessment Program rollover resistance program.

. Removes a loophole in federal law that allows schools to purchase used 15-passenger vans. Under current law, schools are prohibited from purchasing the vans new, but may purchase them used.