15-Passenger Van Accident: The New York Times, "Regulators Question the Stability of Big Vans"

          Federal regulators released a report yesterday that raised new questions about the stability of 15-passenger vans and how they are used. The report comes two days after three members of a Bronx church group were killed and nine were injured in the rollover of a large van at the Canadian border.
          Regulators also issued their third consumer advisory on large vans in four years yesterday. One of the report's principal findings was that large vans handle similarly to large sport utility vehicles when lightly loaded. But when filled with passengers, or driven above 50 miles an hour, the vehicles become substantially more unstable than S.U.V.'s or pickup trucks. Large vans are five times more likely to roll over when filled than when only the driver is in the vehicle, the report said.
          Despite being more prone to rollovers than cars, large vans, as well as large S.U.V.'s, are not subject to many car regulations, including minimum roof strength requirements. Joan Claybrook, the traffic agency's former chief and the president of the consumer group Public Citizen, said the agency needed to make large vans comply with such rules. "N.H.T.S.A. seems to blame everyone but the auto companies," Ms. Claybrook said. "At some point they have to acknowledge this is a design problem."