Why do 15-passenger vans roll over?

Andrew Smith created this video explaining why 15-passenger vans rollover.

Bottom Line: 90% of the rollovers are caused by a left-rear tire de-tread.

Details discussed in this video:

• There is a design flaw in the Ford E-350 (Econoline XLT), that places 45% of the weight on the left rear tire.
• The aisle on the right side of the van contributes greatly to the weight being placed on the left side of the van
• The E-350 requires 50 psi on the front tires and 80 psi on the rear tires. This is the only vehicle on the road requiring different pressures on the front and rear tires.
• The increase weight on the left-rear tire generates excess  heat inside the tire.
• If the tire pressure is lower than manufactured specs, this will significantly increase heat inside the tire.
• Once the heat generated inside the tire exceeds the manufacturers specs, the tire will de-laminate, causing the tire to de-tread.

The following video by narrated by Mark Smith illustrates the same points:

Tire blowout suspected in crash that killed 5

By The Associated Press
Monday, October 22, 2007 9:50 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS – Federal regulators have warned for years that overcrowded 15-passenger vans or those with improperly inflated tires can pose a higher risk of rollovers.

Police say a tire blowout may have caused a van carrying 16 Amish passengers to flip over on Interstate 69 near Muncie Sunday, killing three children and two adults and injuring 11 others.

A hole was found in the tire, which could have caused it to deflate and the driver to lose control of the van, said Sgt. Rod Russell with the Indiana State Police.

The van’s owner and driver was Melvin Fisher, who died in the accident along with his wife and three children. Four other children in the family survived, as did seven members of another family traveling in the van.

It is not clear whether anyone was wearing seat belts, police said.

The Amish families were traveling home from a church function. Although Amish generally shun modern conveniences, some members drive vehicles.

State police said five Rockville family members were killed in

the accident: Melvin Fisher, 39; his wife, Savilla Fisher, whose age was not known; and their sons, Ruben, 16; Christian, 11; and 1-year-old Eli.

Seven members of Steve Lengacher’s family were injured.

‘‘All we can believe is that the Lord had his hand on it and that his ways are not our ways,” Lengacher told WISH-TV in Indianapolis. ‘‘I would not choose this way, but his ways are as far above ours, as the heavens are from the earth.”

Californian Mark Smith’s 17-year-old daughter died in a van rollover in 2002.

‘‘I really feel for them,” Smith said. ‘‘I know what they’re going through.”

Smith now runs a group called Van Angels, which aims to save lives by educating people about what he considers the dangers of 15-passenger vans, which are popular with church groups, sports teams and others who need to transport large groups of people.

A 2005 study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 74 percent of all 15-passenger vans had at least one tire that was improperly inflated. In comparison, about 40 percent of passengers cars had an improperly inflated tire.

State police were still examining the van in the I-69 crash.

The highway safety agency has also found that when the vans have 10 or more passengers, they have a rollover rate that is nearly three times higher than when they have fewer than five occupants.

Russ Rader, a spokesman with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, noted that the vans have a higher center of gravity than cars.

‘‘As you add people, the center of gravity gets even higher,” he said.

Van manufacturers had added stability control to help prevent rollovers. And safety officials also stress the importance of wearing seat belts in large vans.

The safety agency says between 1990 and 2003, nearly 80 percent of those who died in rollovers in the 15-passenger vans were unbuckled. In contrast, 91 percent of those wearing seat belts in fatal, single-vehicle rollovers in the vans survived.

The agency has tried to raise safety awareness in the large vans in recent years following some deadly accidents.

Church Van Crash Along Interstate 80 Injures 20

Church Van Crash Along Interstate 80 Injures 20
Children Injured When Van Blows Tire

POSTED: 6:16 pm CDT April 29, 2007
UPDATED: 8:57 am CDT April 30, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. — A church van filled with children crashed on Interstate 80 west of Lincoln Sunday, critically injuring several passengers in the vehicle.

Nebraska State Patrol troopers at the scene said the left rear tire blew out on the 1987 van. The vehicle rolled several times before landing in a ditch east of Seward on Interstate 80. The accident happened at about 2 p.m. Sunday.

The van was carrying 20 members of the Sudanese Evangelical Lutheran Mission of Omaha. There were two adults, and 18 children on board.

The State Patrol reported that three of the passengers were sent by helicopter to a Lincoln hospital with life-threatening injuries. Three more passengers were transported by ambulance with critical injuries.

The other 13 people injured also are being treated at hospitals with injuries not considered to be life-threatening, authorities said.

Troopers reported that many of the passengers were thrown from the van. The vehicle was equipped with seat belts, but troopers did not know if the belts were used.

The crash closed eastbound lanes of I-80 for more than two hours.

Copyright 2007 by KETV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.