Research Papers (2009 – 2013)

BACKGROUND

Fifteen-passenger vans are a convenient and economical way to transport small groups of people. As such, educational institutions, community organisations, health care facilities, seasonal fire fighters, tree planters, agricultural workers and tourists are common users of these types of vehicles. Originally manufactured to carry cargo, the vans were re-designed as passenger vehicles in 1972. Their popularity rose dramatically during the 1990s. Fifteen-passenger vans caught public attention in 1999 after passengers were killed or seriously injured in six separate crashes in the USA over a three-month period. In Canada, a crash on January 12, 2008 re-kindled the public’s attention. Members of a Bathurst, New Brunswick, high school basketball team were returning from a game when their 15-passenger van collided with a transport truck. Eight of the 12 people in the van died. Within days, the government of New Brunswick suspended the use of 15-passenger vans for school-related activities and other provinces, school boards, and organisations followed suit. We initiated this study to better understand the characteristics of drivers involved in crashes involving these vans by comparing them to drivers of crashes involving other passenger vehicles.

Tom G. Potter, Kathy Haras, Sacha Dubois, Michel Bédard