High-Occupancy Vans Associated With Frequent Rollover Accidents

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On Saturday, September 18th, a 15-passenger van carrying a church group blew a tire and rolled over on a New York State highway, leaving at least six people dead and eight injured. Over the years, explains a Seattle personal injury lawyer, high-occupancy vans have been associated with frequent rollover accidents, leading many consumer advocates to champion redesigns and retrofits of these unstable and unsafe vehicles.

Consumer advocate groups are not the only ones to identify a safety issue with the vans: over the last 20 years, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been conducting studies and collecting accident statistics on them. Between the years of 1997 and 2006, the NHTSA recorded a total of 1,090 fatalities suffered by the occupants of 15-passenger vans, 688 of which could be attributed to the vehicle rolling over in an accident. In addition, vans loaded to maximum capacity experienced a higher rate of rollover than ones that were lightly loaded, explains Jason Epstein, a Seattle personal injury lawyer.

Recently, a California injury lawyer wrote an informative article on this subject, titled “15-Passenger Vans Have A High Risk Of Rollover Accidents,” which discusses issues with high-occupancy vans, as well as offers safety tips for preventing injuries and accidents.

Additional information on rollover accidents and accident victims’ rights is available free of charge to the public.

To request an article, or to speak with a Seattle personal injury lawyer, feel free to call (888) 852-0068. If you are in California, you may contact a California injury lawyer at (866) 981-5596.