On Sept. 26, 2005, nine Utah State University students and faculty were killed in a van rollover during a field trip. The deaths raised questions about the safety of the multi-passenger vans used for school trips at state universities.
Now the Utah State Board of Regents is requesting that the State Legislature allocate funds to replace 15-passenger vans, the type involved in the Utah State accident, with safer models.
The Board of Regents suggests that the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee earmark $400,000 for the purpose of replacing 15-passenger vans with smaller vehicles. There are currently 83 of the potentially unsafe vans owned by Utah public higher educational institutions, said Amanda Covington, communications director for the Board of Regents.
Board members intend to have the existing vans sold or traded in. Some would be kept, but the seats would be removed, and they would be used only as cargo vehicles. Because the replacement vehicles would accommodate fewer passengers, university motor pools would require larger fleets.
“Getting smaller vans will require an expansion of about 20 vehicles,” said Kevin Walther, associate commissioner for finance and facilities with the Board of Regents, at a Jan. 26 meeting of the subcommittee.
The U currently has eight 15-passenger vans, said Pete Vanderhave, assistant vice president of plant operations for the U. Three of the vans were formerly part of the daily rental fleet but have been grounded for safety reasons. The other five vans are still used but are limited to operating on campus. They are primarily used for cargo deliveries, Vanderhave said.
“Some of us have been pushing for the elimination of these vans for years,” Vanderhave said. “We would probably recommend replacing them with minivans that don’t have the same rollover potential that these 15-passenger vans do.”
Lawmakers said they recognized the importance of keeping school-sanctioned travel safe for students and faculty. The appropriations subcommittee members will decide whether to grant the entire amount requested by the Board of Regents when they finalize the higher education budget for this year’s legislative session.
“I think the likelihood of it being funded is great. I think when you’ve got the public awareness that (the Utah State) incident brought forward, that increases the chance of the funding to be there,” said Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-Salt Lake City.
“I think most of us are very concerned about safety. I think that’s the bottom line after we saw what happened with the tragic situation at Utah State University,” Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City, said. “For that reason, I think it will certainly be a priority for many of us.”
However, Arent warned that the subcommittee might not be able to fund all of the projects they would like to this year if the state budget surplus were used to fund a large tax cut.