Report says 15-passenger vans wrongly being labelled ‘death traps’

Fifteen-passenger vans are being unfairly labelled as "death traps," when the problem seems to be the way they're maintained and used.

That's the conclusion of of a report by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, the national organization representing federal and provincial transport officials.

Critics of the large vans have been pushing the provinces and Ottawa to emulate many U.S. states and ban their use by schools to transport students and by sports teams. Three provinces already do. The effort moved into high gear after a 2008 crash that killed seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the coach's wife.

But the report, commissioned by then-transport minister John Baird in the wake of the crash, found 15-passenger vans were no more dangerous than other vehicles.

"Research does not support a ban of 15-passenger vans in Canada regardless of their use," the report says in its conclusion.

The conclusion was based on the council's research, buttressed by comparison testing conducted by Transport Canada.

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It said U.S. and Canadian statistics indicate 15-passenger vans are not involved in a disproportionate number of fatal crashes. However, U.S. data revealed more than two thirds of occupants of fatal van collisions were not wearing seat belts, including 80 per cent of those who died.

"This is very high compared to studies of all vehicles: nine U.S. states report 10 per cent non-compliance, and Canadian statistics show five per cent to eight per cent of occupants do not wear seat belts," the report said.

A 2004 study by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that fully-loaded 15-passenger vans were five times more likely to be involved in a highway rollover than one with only the driver aboard – the widest gap of any type of vehicle.

"A large proportion of the fatally injured van occupants were not wearing seat belts," the NHTSA report observed.

"Only 14 percent of the fatally injured occupants were properly restrained. Also, 92 percent of the belted occupants survived. About 61 percent of the occupants killed in single-vehicle crashes were ejected from the van."

The Canadian report said testing by NHTSA and Transport Canada also found worn or under-inflated tires and overloading were important factors in the highway handling of large-capacity vans.

Three B.C. farmworkers died in a 2007 crash on the Trans-Canada Highway when the 15-passenger-van they were in went out of control and flipped.

An investigation found the van was carrying 17 passengers but there were seat belts for only two, and that the driver was not properly licensed. He was fined $2,000 and issued a one-year driving ban.

[ Related: Bathurst, N.B. marks 'Boys in Red' anniversary ]

"Overall Transport Canada’s test results found that 15-passenger vans performed as well as, and sometimes better than, the two school buses and the MFAB [a short school bus] in all tests performed," the council's report said.

It also pointed to improvements in design, such as central tire-pressure monitoring and electronic stability control (ESC), three-point seat belts and more airbags, as important safeguards.

But issues such as driver skill should be addressed, the report argued.

"Currently, there is inconsistency across Canada with driver licensing requirements for vehicles used to transport children. Canada could benefit from harmonizing the licensing requirements for drivers."

[ Related: 15-passenger van crash kills 4 in U.S. ]

The report recommended developing a national approach to 15-passenger van safety, as well as the safe transportation of students.

"Canada should develop national guidelines to promote and educate users on how to safely operate a 15-passenger van regardless of use," it said.

The regime should include higher licensing standards for drivers working for schools, more attention to tire maintenance, such as checking pressures and tread wear, loading cargo and passengers from front to back and ensuring everyone is belted in.

Three provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec – currently ban the use of 15-passenger vans to transport students, the National Post reported.

The mothers of the Bathurst crash victims, who've organized themselves as the Van Angels, have pushed for a nationwide ban.

The group sent letters to each province warning that the report's recommendations “will have no effect on driver behaviour if not backed up by regulation and enforcement," the Post said.

So far, no governments have moved to implement the recommendations, the Post said, although the report first came out in January.