15-Passenger Van Litigation - Wigington Rumley, L.L.P.

An example of a van rollover accident.

Wigington Rumley, LLP is playing a leading role in 15 passenger van litigation. Several 15 passenger van cases handled by Wigington Rumley, LLP have received national attention.

15 Passenger vans are vans that are designed to accommodate 15 passengers. These vans are manufactured and sold by Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Chrysler Corporation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are approximately 1.4 million 15 passenger vans registered in the United States. These vans are widely used by churches, community organizations, schools, and colleges.

Concern over the stability and handling of 15-passenger vans have recently received national media attention. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has issued two consumer advisories which warn that these vans become less stable when loaded. These vans have a higher rollover rate due to a higher center of gravity. When loaded with occupants, the center of gravity increases and shifts rearward. As a consequence, the van has less resistance to rollover and makes them more difficult to handle and control in emergency situations.

Jeff Wigington was interviewed on 60 Minutes II for his representation of Patricia Sturns in a lawsuit filed against Ford Motor Company. Mrs. Sturns lost her son, Samuel Sturns, during a Ford 15 passenger van rollover accident. Samuel was a member of the Prairie View A & M track team and was on his way to a track meet in Arkansas. Three other young men also perished in the accident.

Wigington's work on 15 passenger van litigation also received attention from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and the Dallas Morning News.

Wigington Rumley, LLP represented two victims of another 15 Passenger Case that received national media attention. On May 8, 2001, 12 women who were members of the First Assembly Church of God in Burkburnett, Texas, were in a 1993 Dodge Ram 15 passenger van when one of its Michelin tires experienced a de-tread. The van crossed across the center median and rolled over several times. In the accident, four people died and seven were seriously injured.

Another case that Wigington Rumley, LLP is handling that is receiving national attention is a tragic accident that occurred in Northern Maine that killed 14 occupants of a 15 Passenger van. We represent the families of 14 Migratory workers from Honduras and Guatemala who were killed when the 2002 Dodge 15-Passenger van rolled off of a single-lane bridge in Northern Maine. The media had reported that this accident was the single deadliest crash in the history of Maine.

Wigington Rumley, LLP is also handling a 15-Passenger Van case that resulted in three fatalities and six other occupants being seriously injured. The accident involved a group of interns from Victorious Christian Harvestors, an organization that ministers in Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba, and other Latin Countries. On June 30, 2002, the group completed their mission and was returning back to Laredo, Texas. At approximately 6:30 PM, just outside of Monterrey, Mexico, the left rear tire experienced tread separation that resulted in the van rolling over several times.

Wigington Rumley, LLP also represents the family who lost their son in a tragic rollover accident involving a Ford 15 Passenger van on August 24, 2002, in San Francisco, California. In this accident, a group of young people were on their way to an amusement park when the van rolled over several times, killing one young man and seriously injuring several others.

Within the last year, several insurance companies have decided to drop coverage for these vans citing costly lawsuits have cut into their profits. News of the drop of coverage received national attention. In a New York Times article, Wigington called the agency's warnings in this case "merely a Band-Aid on a bleeding wound."

On June 21, 2002, a van load of 11 firefighters were traveling in a Ford 15-Passenger outside of Parachute, Colorado when the vehicle rolled. Five were killed and the remaining occupants were injured. Wigington was again contacted regarding his work in 15-Passenger van litigation by The Oregonian.

On April 15, 2002, Dr. Jeffrey Runge, head of the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), issued a second consumer advisory warning users of 15-passenger vans that these vans have an increased rollover risk.

NHTSA reported that these vans have a rollover risk that increases dramatically as the number of occupants increases from fewer than five to more than ten. When loaded with 10 or more occupants, 15-Passenger vans have a rollover rate nearly three times the rate of those with fewer occupants. NHTSA further reported that when loaded with 15 passengers, the risk of rollover rises to almost six times than if loaded with fewer passengers.

PUBLIC ARTICLES PERTAINING TO 15-PASSENGER VAN ACCIDENTS

October 8, 2003 - The Wall Street Journal, "New Rollover Test Could Lead to Safer SUVs"

How likely is your SUV to roll over in traffic? After decades of research and bitter debate, the federal government unveiled a new test Tuesday that may provide the answer. The test is the first to be based on a vehicle's actual performance, instead of a mathematical formula. It is expected to increase pressure on car makers to speed up technological changes that are intended to reduce rollover accidents.

Starting this year, the government will subject all vehicles to the new road test -- a series of sharp maneuvers at high speeds. Consumers could start seeing the new ratings by year end, when the government will begin factoring the results of the test into its traditional rating system. The agency plans to post the first batch of its new ratings (probably for a dozen cars or so) on the Web site safercars.gov1 by January at the latest. It won't require manufacturers or dealers to provide the data to customers at the time of sale.

The new test is the first in a series of actions that are likely to refocus public attention on the safety of sport-utility vehicles and light trucks. Within the next month, a panel of auto- and insurance-industry officials is expected to announce an agreement on new design criteria for SUVs and light trucks intended to reduce deaths and injuries that occur when these bigger, heavier vehicles strike smaller passenger cars.

August 7, 2003 - USA Today, "Vehicle stability control gets cool reception in USA"

What if there were a way of preventing vehicle rollovers, but no one knew about it? That's not far from the situation facing auto suppliers who make stability control systems, which sense when drivers are about to lose control of their vehicles and help them regain it. By preventing spinouts and other mishaps, stability control could reduce single-vehicle crashes by up to 35%, studies in Europe and Japan show.

July 19, 2003 - International Herald Tribune, "Rollover Accidents are Cited in a Rise in U.S. Road Deaths"

New U.S. traffic statistics show that rollover accidents were the leading contributor to an increase in the number of deaths on the nation's roads last year. A total of 42,815 people died in traffic accidents in the United States last year, the most since 1990, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday. The agency said a large proportion of the increase was a result of rollover accidents.

June 2, 2003 - USA Today, "Car safety experts push for new stability device"

The National Transportation Safety Board will hear evidence Tuesday that a promising auto safety feature might have prevented a sport-utility vehicle rollover crash in Maryland that killed five people. NTSB crash investigators will recommend that the board encourage widespread installation of the device — called stability control — in new cars and trucks. The system senses when a driver is about to lose control of a vehicle, and it applies brakes to certain wheels. That helps the driver maintain or regain control.

March 27, 2003 - Portland Press Herald (Maine), "Snowe backs rollover tests for large vans"

Fifteen-passenger vans, like the one that rolled off a bridge over the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in September, killing 14 people, need more rigorous safety testing, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said on Wednesday.

So Maine's senior senator introduced legislation to require more testing and to close a loophole that she said "put schoolchildren at risk."

"Since 1990, more than 400 people have lost their lives in van rollover accidents, and hundreds more have been seriously injured," Snowe, a member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, said in a written statement. "Fifteen-passenger vans are popular vehicles for tourists, schoolchildren and church outings, but they can also be dangerous if overloaded with either passengers or cargo."

March 12, 2003 - Motor Trend, "Automakers Must Call a Recall a Recall"

Many 2002 Nissan Altimas had a potentially faulty air bag sensor; a half-million 1995-97 Ford Contours and Mercury Mystiques had heaters that could cause fires; thousands of 1998-99 Honda and Isuzu sport-utility vehicles had anti-lock brakes that could take too long to stop.

The manufacturers fixed the vehicles, yet none was technically recalled. That's because these automakers -- and many others -- were able to negotiate a special deal with regulators called a "safety improvement campaign" that allowed them to couch their recalls in less dramatic language.

Now, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration chief Jeffrey Runge has done away with safety improvement campaigns. Automakers will no longer be able to say they didn't do a "recall" when they call back vehicles to fix safety problems.

March 11, 2003 - USA Today, "Ford Faces Challenge on Bronco rollovers"

An environmental group with clout is trying to portray Ford Motor - and by implication, most automakers - as lying about safety, hoping to destroy the industry's credibility when it argues that stricter fuel-economy standards would lead to less-safe vehicles.

Detroit defends the poor fuel economy of SUVs by contending that's the price of safer vehicles, and argues that "increased fuel economy will force it to make small, unsafe cars. We wanted to see how concerned the big seller of SUVs, Ford, was about safety," says Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group (EWG). Ford has been beset by criticism that's hurting its stock and boosting borrowing costs.

March 10, 2003 - Press Release, "Environmental Working Group Alleges Ford Hid SUV Rollover Evidence For Decades"

The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group announced that Ford Motor Company has fought mandatory increases in fuel economy for SUVs and other vehicles by invoking fears that higher mileage requirements would result in smaller, more dangerous vehicles. It claim that for Ford safety has been used to beat back fuel efficiency regulations.

The Environmental Working Group also asserted, based on its review of Ford Motor Company documents, that Ford engineers allegedly were aware in 1982 that the original sport utility vehicle, the Bronco II, was prone to roll over during routine safety tests. With modest stability changes that did not significantly reduce rollover potential, the Bronco II was renamed the Explorer in 1990.

March 7, 2003 - Bismarck Tribune, "Use of Large Vans by Schools may be Banned"

North Dakota's state school superintendent may ban public schools from using 15-passenger vans, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Thursday. The larger vans are at greater risk of rollover crashes when they are full, federal safety regulators say. Wayne Sanstead, the superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction, has cautioned schools against using the vehicles. However, 110 of them are still being used across North Dakota.

February 26, 2003 - Los Angeles Times, "Automaker data say SUVs are riskier"

A key automaker group Tuesday released figures showing that people in sport utility vehicles are more likely to die in crashes than are occupants of passenger cars. Officials of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers defended the safety of SUVs and said the difference in death risks was "statistically indiscernible," but independent observers said the numbers indicate that automakers may be slowly acknowledging the problems of their most profitable products.

February 26, 2003 - CNN.com Technology, "Voluntary steps urged for SUV safety; Report says SUVs pose danger to cars"

The top U.S. auto safety regulator said on Wednesday he would let carmakers voluntarily improve the safety of sport utility vehicles but left open the option of forcing them to make changes if necessary.

Jeffrey Runge, who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told a congressional hearing the industry can move more swiftly than government on safety improvements. Declaring he would not let members of his family drive some SUV models, Runge nevertheless said some sport utility vehicles are as safe as passenger cars. He did not say which ones were off limits in his family.

February 18, 2003 - Los Angeles Times, "Study questions safety of SUVs"

Which is safer, a Honda Accord or the nearly one-ton- heavier Ford Expedition? Chances are that the brawny SUV would hold up better in a wreck. Yet drivers of Accords and Expeditions have about the same risk of suffering a fatal accident, new research shows. And when the risk to other drivers is factored in, the Accord is safer by far. Or consider the massive Chevrolet Suburban, identified by the research as safest among popular SUVs. But according to the data, drivers of Suburbans and shrimpy Volkswagen Jettas have about the same fatality rates. The novel study's bottom line: Sport utility vehicles and pickups aren't as protective as many of their owners believe, while they are also uniquely dangerous to everyone else.

February 3, 2003 - Chicago Tribune, "Church van flips, killing 13-year-old"

Authorities say a church van that flipped on its side killing a teenager and seriously injuring two 4-year-olds is a model some federal experts have targeted as a safety risk. Geoffrey Smith, 13, of Belleville was killed instantly when the Ford E-350 15-passenger van he was riding in fishtailed on wet pavement Friday night, veered into a ditch and turned on its side. The boy was pinned inside.

January 27, 2003 - The Wall Street Journal, "Auto Makers Start To Back Away From Big SUVs: As Outcry Over the Vehicles Grows, Detroit Pushes Smaller, Carlike Models

Sport-utility vehicles have fattened auto companies' profits and ridden an economic boom into millions of suburban garages. But now, pressures from society, government and the auto industry itself are growing so strong that Detroit is starting to take its first big steps away from reliance on the traditional, huge SUV. Anti-SUV crusaders now span an unlikely spectrum. The Sierra Club argues that SUVs contribute to global warming. A religious group protests that Jesus wouldn't drive an SUV. Conservative columnist Arianna Huffington recently launched television ads tying SUVs to terrorism.

January 23, 2003 - USA Today, "Lawsuits give Ford publicity problem"

Ford Motor, working hard to put financial and quality problems behind it, is being dogged by high-profile court battles that are likely to generate publicity through the rest of the year. The cases challenge product and engineering decisions made more than a decade ago and question the company's honesty.