Day Care Van Rollover Risk

Posted By Roswell Encina

MEMPHIS - In 2003, Memphis athletes on a way to a track meet were injured when their van flipped.  And in 2002 six children were injured when their day car van ran off the road and rolled over.

Between 1982 and 2003 nearly a thousand people have died nationally in rollovers of 15 passenger vans.

Don't put your kid in one of these vehicles," says rollover expert Milt Chace.

But despite numerous federal warnings day care vans in Memphis still use these 15 passenger vans despite the fact it's illegal for public schools to use them.  Carol Chapple of Blooming Scholar Day Care still uses them but is making a transition to safer buses.  "It was important because of the rollover with the 15 passenger vans and the likelihood of children being injured with them," says Chapple.

Video from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 15 passenger vans are three times more likely to rollover than smaller vans.

In Tennessee, state legislators have set an ultimatum: Day cares must get rid of their 15 passenger vans by next year or get in big trouble.  Representative John Deberry of Memphis help pass the law. "We're not necessary everywhere we want to be but we certainly made some progress of that issue," says Deberry.

But the Department of Human Services says so far only a third of day cares with vans have transitioned to buses.  Chapple says it's not cheap but it's worth every penny when your hauling such precious cargo.

Read the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report on van rollovers.

Read the guidelines on vans by the TN Department of Human Services. (PDF)