Fifteen-Passenger Vans and Other Transportation Options: A Comparison of Driver, Vehicle, and Crash Characteristics

Abstract

Objective: Fifteen-passenger vans (15-PVs) are a convenient and economical way to transport small groups of people and many educational, community, and health organizations utilize them. Given recent tragic crashes involving 15-PVs, many organizations are reconsidering their use. The goal of this study was to examine driver, vehicle, and crash characteristics of fatal 15-PV collisions over the past 2 decades in comparison to 3 other common vehicle classes.

Methods: We used data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (years 1991–2008). Driver, vehicle, and crash characteristics were compared by vehicle classes (15-PV, cars, minivans, and intercity buses) using proportions along with odds ratios (using cars as the reference category) for dichotomous variables and means and mean differences for continuous variables. Logistic regression and analysis of variance were used to statistically compare odds and means, respectively. The odds and absolute risk of a first, subsequent, and either rollover by vehicle type and occupancy rate were also examined. Odds and absolute risk of a rollover event by occupancy rate were calculated.

Results: Compared to car drivers, van drivers typically had a better past 3-year driving record. Van drivers performed significantly fewer actions suggesting aggressive driving (e.g., speeding). However, the proportion of van drivers who were deemed to have followed improperly or to have overcorrected was greater. A vehicle rollover was cited almost twice as frequently in van crashes compared to other passenger vehicles. Of the 4 vehicle types studied, all were more likely to rollover as their occupancy rates increased. Fully loaded 15-PVs had almost 13 times the odds of rollover compared to fully loaded cars. Minivans when full (7 occupants), often seen as the replacement for 15-PVs, were found to have over 3.5 times the odds of rollover of fully loaded cars.

Conclusions: Drivers need to be aware that as occupancy rates of the vehicles they drive rise so does the risk of rollover and fatalities, especially among minivans and 15-PVs. Organizations transporting groups need to balance cost and safety management by selecting vehicle types and drivers with acute awareness of the risks involved.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Traffic Injury Prevention to view the supplemental file.

Keywords:

• fifteen-passenger vans
• responsibility
• fatalities
• rollover
• occupancy rate
• driver training

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support from AUTO21-Network of Centres of Excellence and the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation. Michel Bédard is a member of Candrive (a Team grant funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and is a Canada Research Chair in Aging and Health (http://www.chairs.gc.ca); he acknowledges the support of both programs.