STOPPING THE ILLEGAL PURCHASE AND USE OF NON-CONFORMING VANS TO TRANSPORT STUDENTS

WHEREAS, the use of "non-conforming" vans (small passenger vans carrying eight to 15 passengers) for athletic trips and other extracurricular school activities is a major transportation safety concern; and

WHEREAS, these vans are not manufactured to the same stringent federal motor vehicle safety standards for occupation protection as traditional yellow school buses; and

WHEREAS, despite the fact that automobile manufacturers and dealers are prohibited from selling new vans into school service, school districts are not prevented from purchasing and using used vans to transport staff (a legal use), which are then quite often used to transport students (an illegal use); and

WHEREAS, when these vans are used in school service to transport students, they do not conform to federal law, which requires that children being transported in vehicles in school service must meet several federal safety standards (compartmentalization from higher seat backs, seat spacing, seat padding, steel inner structure, etc.); and

WHEREAS, the risks to students, staff and school districts are many, including:

• possibility of injuries or fatalities; and
• added stress, anxiety and liability placed on members who are asked to transport students in these vans; and
• impact on already stretched school budgets could be enormous if serious injury or fatalities occurred because of the use of these vehicles; and

WHEREAS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that between 1993 to 1999, there were at least 71 non-collision van rollovers, causing 126 fatalities (thankfully a very small number of them involving students), and the rollover rate of vans with 10 or more occupants is nearly three times the rate of those that are lightly loaded; and

WHEREAS, despite the fact that the NHTSA has issued numerous warnings over the last 20 years and just recently initiated legal action against six automobile dealers, this practice continues:

RESOLVED, that the AFT and its affiliates work with transportation industry associations to support federal, state and local efforts to close legal loopholes that allow dealers to sell—and schools to purchase new or used non-conforming passenger vans that may potentially transport students; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT provide information to affiliates so they may educate and inform school administration and communities about the danger of using non-conforming vans to transport students.