NHTSA Issues Another Warning About 15-Passenger Vans

To: All NASDPTS Members

Fm: Charlie Gauthier

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced new research that reinforces its existing concerns about 15-passenger vans. As a result, NHTSA reissued its consumer advisory for users of 15-passenger vans for the third time in the past four years.

In a new research report related to improper tire maintenance on 15-passenger vans, the NHTSA study found that 74 percent of all 15-passenger vans had significantly mis-inflated tires. By contrast, 39 percent of passenger cars were found with significant inflation problems. NHTSA research has consistently shown that improperly inflated tires can change handling characteristics, increasing the prospect of a rollover crash in 15-passenger vans.

The news release also reiterated the Federal law which prohibits the sale or lease of new 12- and 15-passenger vans for the school-related transport of high school age and younger students.

A copy of the NHTSA News Release is attached.

Charles Gauthier
Executive Director
National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services
6298 Rock Hill Road
The Plains, VA 20198-1916
540-253-5520
540-253-5524 (fax)
ExecDir@nasdpts.org