Church Vans, School Busses, Hotel Shuttles – They Can Be Dangerous

Twelve (12) and Fifteen (15) passenger vans are used by various groups and organizations due to their ability to transport a large amount of people and their accompanying luggage. These dangerous vans are used as church vans, hotel shuttles, daycare busses, airport shuttles, school buses as well as many other uses.  Many people who driver or are passengers in these vans are unaware of the risks of rollover accidents and subsequent injuries involved.  Compounding this problem, the rate of safety belt use among occupants of large vans involved in fatal crashes is very low compared to other types of vehicles.

The U.S Government has estimated that there have more then 2,500 fatalities as the result of passenger van accidents throughout the country since 1990.

These types of vehicles have a higher likelihood than any other vehicle to be involved in dangerous rollover accidents, many of which are single vehicle accidents. This is due to the design of the large vehicle, which when it is fully loaded with passengers and cargo becomes unstable because of their very high center of gravity.  These “top heavy” passenger vans are even more dangerous because of the defective design of the roof support posts and unsafe materials used in manufacturing the roof and roof supports which allow the roof to crush down when involved in a rollover accident.

Under product liability laws of Tennessee, auto manufactures have to design a reasonably safe product.  Thant means the vehicles must be crashworthy.  To be “crashworthy,” a vehicle needs to be designed in such a way as to protect occupants in the event of a crash.  That means, among other things, designing with strong-enough roof pillars and support structures to keep the top of the vehicle from collapsing into the passenger compartment in a rollover accident.  Hundreds of people suffer paralysis and other catastrophic injuries from roof crush accidents every year.

If you or a family member thinks damage has been caused by a Passenger Van Rollover or a Roof Crush Injury please contact the attorneys at Keith Williams Law Group.  We can help!

 

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