Couple of years ago there was a horrible crash in a van in New Brunswick that pretty much wiped out an entire high school basketball squad.
Isabelle Hains' son, Daniel, and six other members of the Bathurst High School basketball team were killed, along with a teacher, when their 15-seat school van swerved on the Trans-Canada Highway and collided with a transport truck in northern New Brunswick in January 2008. As the Canwest newspapers report this morning the 12 and 15-seat vans have been called death traps by U.S. consumer watchdog Safety Forum, and the U.S. has banned their sale for the purpose of transporting children. But they are still in use across Canada.
A Canwest News investigation last year revealed only Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have imposed a ban, and the vans remain in widespread use.
The vans contain none of the common safety features of cars or minivans, such as steel side plates, reinforced roofs or laminated windows, that protect passengers in a crash and they also have a dangerously high centre of gravity and a propensity to fishtail at high speeds. In fact the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says they are more prone to rollover crashes than any other vehicle.
With the above in mind and the horror that happened on the roads of New Brunswick, New Brunswick MP, NDP House whip Yvon Godin, is planning on introing a private member's bill aimed at outlawing 15-seat vans for student travel.
This is a slam dunk, doncha think?
WFDS
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