Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
12-passenger Chevrolet Express van
A charity has given Catholic Charities Fort Worth a grant for a new fleet of passenger vans according to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. One of Catholic Charities’ first purchases is a 12-passenger Chevrolet Express van and the agency has already begun using it to transport refugee children.
FORT WORTH — With precious cargo inside, new vans donated to Catholic Charities Fort Worth won’t be traveling at high speeds.
But the spiffy rides are funded by folks who enjoy fast cars: the Texas chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities. A $146,431 grant from the group will pay for a fleet of four passenger vans for the nonprofit organization…
…The 2011 white vans, a 12-passenger Chevrolet Express and an eight-passenger Toyota Sienna, will springboard a new transportation program at Catholic Charities Fort Worth, which provides services for low-income families, seniors, refugees and immigrants in the 28-county diocese.
About 9,000 children are expected to ride in the vans this year to appointments, educational activities and fun outings. Their parents will get rides to parenting classes, support groups and other activities, said Heather Reynolds, chief executive officer and president of Catholic Charities Fort Worth…
…On Tuesday, children piled into the vans for a field trip to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and Omni Theater. The 16 youngsters, all refugees who have been resettled in Fort Worth, have limited English skills, but their gratitude was unmistakable… Read more here
It concerns me the see this article due to the passenger van rollovers in Arizona and Georgia in the past two years in which so many refugees died or were seriously injured. Officials reported that a tire blowout was the cause of the rollover in Georgia.
A lawyer, Certified Insurance Counselor and member of the USA Baseball Medical/Safety Advisory Committee named John M. Sadler claims that research indicates that 12-passenger vans don’t fare much better than 15-passenger vans in rollovers. In a 2008 article he advised sports organizations as soon as possible to get rid of all 12-passenger and 15-passenger vans, and replace them with 7-passenger mini vans or school buses, which have a much lower rollover propensity at higher occupant loads. He also recommends – among other things – that those groups that do use these larger vans always use a trained, experienced driver who understands and is familiar with the handling characteristics of a fully loaded van. They should also insist that all occupants wear safety belts for the entire duration of the trip, move passengers and cargo forward of the rear axle, and check tires before any trip to make sure that they are properly inflated and not excessively worn.
Finally, agencies should check the pressure of each tire when “cold” and set to the recommended inflation pressure as specified on the vehicle placard in the owner’s manual (the typical recommended pressure for the rear tires can also be higher than for the front tires). Agencies should always equip vans with a tire gauge.
I think that refugee agencies also should never fully load these large vans with adult passengers, and if they insist on using these vans they should only buy or use vans that have electronic stability control (ESC).
