The mothers of two New Brunswick high-school basketball players who lost their lives in a van crash four years ago lament that little has been done since then to ban 15-passenger vans for student travel.

Again, why your legal rights to redress injury and wrongful death are so important. Don't get fooled by so-called tort reform laws.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today awarded three plaintiffs $73 million in damages in a negligence lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company over a church van crash seven years ago that killed two people and injured two more.

The awards included $50 million in punitive damages for what the jurors agreed was "despicable" conduct on the part of the automaker.

MILWAUKEE- Passenger vans with a well documented reputation for deadly roll-over accidents are still in use by Wisconsin child care providers, despite calls for safer ways to transport children to and from school.

As other states were banning child care providers from using these vans, Wisconsin's Department of Children and Families released a policy in 2010 telling providers to carry on.

He steered left into the grassy median and tried to bring it back right. The van flipped sideways, rolled over four times, ejected Brownell and passenger Tony Mauro and left both of them dead on the side of the road.

Seven years later, Bessonov and five other plaintiffs are taking on the Ford Motor Co. in a Sacramento Superior Court civil trial. They say the van was dangerous and that Ford knew it yet did nothing to notify its customers about its alleged defects.

It's been just over a year since 14 teenagers with First Baptist Church of Montgomery survived a near death experience. Those teens were traveling to a summer youth camp about an hour from Montgomery when their 15-passenger van flipped after it blew a tire.

God speed...

WILSON (WTVD) -- The North Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating a passenger van crash that injured several people Monday afternoon in Wilson County.

A witness told ABC11 Eyewitness News the injured passengers pulled others out of the van.

The crash happened on Hornes Church Road near I-95.

"I was coming down to my mom's house and I heard the skid marks," eyewitness Brenda Harris explained.

Harris said when she turned the corner; she saw what was at the end of those skid marks.

"By this time, the van had flipped and there were people crawling and everything and people were pulling others out of the van, and people were just hollering and screaming, you know, in shock," she added.

The Highway Patrol said it does not know why the 15-passenger van wrecked.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research statistics state that 15-passenger vans are involved in more single-vehicle accidents involving rollovers than any other passenger vehicle and that 81 percent of 15-passenger van occupant fatalities occur in single-vehicle rollover accidents. The data also shows that the risk of a rollover accident is greatly increased when 10 or more people ride in a 15-passenger van. The NHTSA states that 15-passenger vans carrying 10 passengers have a rollover rate in single-vehicle accidents that is nearly three times higher than the rate of those carrying fewer than 10 passengers and nearly six times higher when carrying 15 passengers. Some states have even enacted laws restricting the use of 15-passenger vans and requiring a CDL to drive them. Most buyers want to avoid these vans at all costs

NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered a long history of problems with the type of van involved in the fatal crash in Humphreys County that claimed the life of a 14-year-old girl.

The 15-passenger vans are one of the most dangerous vehicles on the road in terms of rollover. It's against federal law for schools to buy them to transport children.

The workers in Wednesday's crash were bound for Moon Nurseries in Chesapeake City, Md., to work as seasonal laborers when a tire on the southbound 1997 Ford Club Wagon blew out, causing it to overturn several times before stopping on the left shoulder

"That sort of brought flashbacks," he said Friday. "It was definitely very scary."

He was in a 15-passenger van that blew out a tire and flipped over on its roof.

This guy is lucky - most folks in a 15-passenger van rollover are not.

Mission Statement

To reduce the number of fatalities in accidents involving 15-passenger vans

and/or “aged” tire failures by …

• Bringing awareness of the dangers of 15-passenger vans and

  the dangers of “aged” tires to as many of the general public as possible
  

• Developing and promoting guidelines for safer operation of

  15-passenger vans and to reduce the risk of “aged” tire failures
  

• Working with legislators and NHTSA to improve and enhance

  the design, performance, testing & reporting requirements and

  safe operation of 15-passenger vans and tires

Dedication

This company is dedicated to Alexis “Lexie” James and to all of those who have lost their lives in vehicle accidents … especially

those who have died in 15-passenger van single vehicle rollover accidents caused by the massive failure of an “aged” tire.

 

Aged tire does not just mean a tire with many miles on it, but also a low-mileage tire that was manufactured more than 6 years ago.

Large Van Safety
By: Wes Wallace

Thursday's deadly crash on I-57 brings up some important reminders about 15-passenger van safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cautions drivers to not overlaod the vehicle, and warns that the more passengers on board, the greater the chance for a possible rollover accident.  That's especially if the number is higher than 10.

Hey guys, get a clue - get to your gigs safely by avoiding these defective machines.

A Tuesday morning crash in West Miami-Dade left one person dead, nine injured, at least three vehicles heavily damaged and backed up traffic for miles.

It all began at 6:44 a.m. when the driver of a 15-passenger dark-red van heading westbound on the Dolphin Expressway lost control at the Red Road exit ramp.

“Apparently the van clipped the crash attenuators and rolled over,” said Alexander Annunziato, Miami-Dade Police spokesman.

Quebec: Another Foreign Agricultural Labourer Killed, 3 seriously injured in 15 passenger van accident roll over

The Williamson County Tax Assessor/Collector’s Office is teaming up with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to urge owners and drivers of 15-passenger vans to take specific steps to keep occupants safe.

 

”Unfortunately, there have been many fatal accidents across the country, including in Texas, involving 15-passenger vans and I want to make sure the public knows how to be safe in these vans,” said Deborah Hunt, Williamson County Tax Assessor/Collector.  “Frequently, these vans are used by churches, colleges, universities and other nonprofit organizations. It is so important that residents who own, drive or ride in these vans know how to be safe in when riding in them.”