Alyssa GregoryRoll over and play dead. While we typically associate this phrase with a somewhat distasteful dog trick, it is surprisingly relevant to college students around the nation, including those at Washington University. Except now it’s not a game, and real people’s lives are at stake.
If you are part of an athletic team or other university-affiliated group that uses 15-passenger vans for transportation, there are some serious safety concerns you should be aware of. Rollover accidents are extremely common in these large vans, and they are frequently fatal. Because of the extreme safety risks posed by these vehicles, WU should no longer offer or sanction their use for school events.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over one third of the single vehicle accidents involving 15-passenger vans with 10 or more occupants were rollovers. The risk of rollover increases as the van is loaded closer to capacity because the center of gravity shifts in such a way as to make the event more likely.
There is already a law on the books from 1974 which prohibits the transportation of school-aged children (high school and younger) in 15-passenger vans. The safety concerns are great enough that the government prohibits their use for school children, yet WU allows its students to use them.
As mentioned in today’s news article, over the month and a half period from Dec. 29, 1999 to Feb. 10, 2000, students from DePaul University; Kenyon College; University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Urbana College of Urbana, Ohio; and Prairie View A&M University were involved in crashes with 15-passenger vans. Some of these were fatal.
The vans are unsafe and WU should no longer make them available for student transportation. Residential Life recently switched from 15-passenger vans to smaller ones that are safer. However, other areas of the university have not yet followed suit by prohibiting their use.
According to Paul Landgraf, WU safety coordinator, despite reviews of safety, “The vast majority of schools are continuing to use the vehicles for travel but require safety training and qualification of drivers before they get behind the wheel.”
While regulations are strict regarding who can drive these vans, even experienced drivers can do little to combat the laws of physics on a rainy day. The government has collected overwhelming evidence concerning the safety of these vans. Why WU and other schools would continue to allow their use is puzzling.
Instead of slapping on a few more rules about who can use the vans, WU needs to make the decision to disallow their use entirely. To do otherwise is to disregard the safety of students, or to at best lump student safety into categories of acceptable risk.
WU has been fortunate not to have lost students due to 15-passenger vans crashing. However, the track record at countless other universities across the nation should be evidence enough that something has to change. Hopefully the university will come to its senses soon and ban 15-passenger vans from student transportation before a WU student dies in one.
Many options other than 15-passenger vans are available. Residential Life has switched to smaller minivans which are safer, and which students feel more comfortable riding and driving in. Enterprise, the company that rents vehicles to WU students, also has other vans in its inventory besides the 15-passenger variety. Enterprise currently rents vans according to regulations imposed by the Office of Student Activities. Instead of merely regulating their use, which implies a university endorsement of their safety, WU should take the next step and eliminate them from the options students have when seeking transportation.
Students can take initiative in enacting this change. Refusing to rent or ride in 15-passenger vans will not only do more to ensure your own safety, but it will send a message to the university that you do not support its endorsement of these dangerous vans.
If enough students refuse to use 15-passenger vans, if enough people publicly protest the university’s endorsement of them, then maybe somebody won’t have to die in one to make WU pay attention.