In January 2008, seven high school basketball players and one adult who were returning home to Bathurst, N.B., were killed when the vehicle in which they were traveling — a 15-passenger van — was involved in a collision with a transport truck. The incident sparked a debate about their use that continues to this day in Canada.
This week B.C. Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid told the Vancouver Sun that her ministry had no plans to ban the use of the vans to transport students and staff to school-related activities. This, in spite of the fact that they have been dubbed “death traps” by a U.S.-based consumer group, that a U.S. law bans their sale for the purposes of child transportation and that more than 30 U.S. states have laws prohibiting their use by schools or daycares.
Is the honourable minister passing the buck?
Well, yes and no. Yes, the ministry is leaving the decision up to individual school districts. According to the Sun, 20 of B.C.’s 60 districts do not own 15-passenger vans, 11 had prohibited their use before the Bathurst accident, 11 imposed a ban afterward and 13 were reviewing their policies. What’s more, the ministry has sent out a reminder to districts about strict adherence to safety guidelines (regular tire-pressure checks, light passenger loads and passenger seating forward of the vans’ rear axle) when the vans are used. More recently, MacDiarmid sent out another advisory asking them to consider using larger buses or minibuses instead.
In the aftermath of the Bathurst tragedy, a coroner’s inquest recommended that provinces set standards for extracurricular travel rather than leaving the decision up to individual school boards. It also recommended that only larger buses be used for extracurricular, school-related travel. At the moment the only three provinces — New Brunswick, Quebec and Nova Scotia — ban their use for school-related travel.
Locally, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) reviewed its use of the 15-passenger vans to transport children for its after-school Kids On the Go program after the Bathurst tragedy. Late last year it reached agreement with School District 48 to transport youngsters from Spring Creek to Myrtle Philip school on school buses. It also removed one of its two 15-passenger vans from service for the winter.
To us, there’s little question that the use of the vans — which were initially designed to carry cargo, not people — needs to be carefully regulated, and standards for their use strictly adhered to. The problem with outright bans, however, is that it’s not one-size-fits-all — some school districts, for example, might not have the wherewithal to transport students on school buses to all events. If a blanket ban is imposed, some would be forced instead to send students to events in five cars instead of one van, giving district officials less control over driver training, vehicle maintenance standards and other factors.
Driving experts tell us the vans can be used safely if maintained and driven correctly. While outright bans are often the knee-jerk response to incidents such as the Bathurst tragedy, they’re not always the best way to safeguard the public.
