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From: Lance (Auto Manufacturers Safety and Innovation Issues)
Date: 28 Jun 2003
Time: 09:38:01
Safety Study for Mobile Oil Change Vans and issues with roll-over. Fifteen and ten passenger vans unsafe? Yep, lots of accidents. A senate panel had looked into this after many accidents including one which had fire fighters on their way to fight a major fire, rolled and killed many fire-fighters. But also Mr. Snowe of Maine a strong Senate Republican there had concerns since many non-profits and schools used these vans to shuttle groups around his state and across into other states on poorly maintained, bumpy, not well marked roads with weather not common to their usual driving experiences. Kids on missions, retreats or other activities such as; soccer, little league, Boy Scouts, Band or other youthful activities. Here are the NTSB suggestions to prevent some of these accidents and keep our people safe; http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/2002/h02_29.pdf One issue was the seat belt issues and roll over characteristics of the geometry of these vans. They are top heavy and 3.6 times more likely to roll over than regular vans, cars or pick-ups. 420 people have died in these types of vans since 1990. 500,000 or approx. of these vans are on the road. Ford has the Econline Series and GM has several versions of this type of van. A bill is being sponsored now which GM and Other Auto Makers are trying to get killed by volunteering to fix these issues with stability control mechanisms, rear view mirror warnings, etc. I have put on many miles in such vans and always found them to sway a little, sometimes getting very uncomfortable when they get rocking after a little swerving to miss an object in the road way or correct the directional control, or simply changing lanes at FWY speed. I did find that for the mobile oil change vans and fluid moving around that ambulance suspension kits solved most of these issues with stronger and tighter suspension especially as the fluid moves you around after you are done swerving, especially an issue when towing a trailer such as airport shuttles in some regions or travelers of various things. One of the Senate proposals is to all together prevent schools from buying, leasing or renting such vans. I tend to agree with this idea since the faculty member who checks it out and drives it may not be very good at driving such vehicles with special and dangerous handling characteristics. Ford has about 83% of the 15 passenger van market today domestically and they are the targets of law firms, for instance this one specializes in suing manufacturers; http://www.lieffcabraser.com/15-passenger-vans.htm . The problem is that the government regulators are setting up these manufacturers for huge lawsuits by pointing out these problems and may kill that market too. Who wins? Thos companies which sell components like seat belts, airbags, suspension parts and of course the damn attorneys; http://www.alexanderlaw.com/rollover-accident/ and yes there are some real live issues here, but suing for money is not fixing the problem as fast an the industry can and is http://www.outdoored.com/Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=147 . Ford sells 7, 8, 10 and 12 passenger vans that are readily available, which will most likely also come under scrutiny. All the costs will be redistributed to all vans and all consumers including those who buy the Oil Change Guys System. Here is a picture of what we are discussing here; http://tncarandvan.citysearch.com/7.html . Here is what GM is doing about it; http://www.fleet-central.com/arn/bnews.cfm?rank=693 Here is an accident break down and chart; http://www.outdoored.com/Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=147 These are some serious charts and proof of the problem
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