First Baptist Church Van Rollover Accident -- Was It Caused Defective Products?

By now, most everyone in the New Port Richey area has read about, or personally knows victims of the tragic accident that occurred on February 25, 2014, involving a blown tire and a 15 passenger van owned by the First Baptist Church.   What many people may not know is the long history of similar accidents involving these particular vehicles.  

As local Safety Harbor lawyers who have represented numerous families in New Port Richey including victims of defective vehicles and tires, we feel it is our duty to warn the public about the dangerous of 15 passenger vans.  It is especially troubling that these vehicles are often used to transport children for Church, school and community functions.

15 passenger vans, including the type used by the First Baptist Church, are so dangerous that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration actually urges people who drive them to receive special training.  Of course most consumers have never seen these warnings, especially when they do not personally own the vehicles.  In the event of a rear tire failure, these vehicles are often uncontrollable and they are extremely prone to rollover.  Rollover accidents are far more likely to cause loss of life than other types of crashes.   Consumer advocates and lawyers such as me and my law partner Joel Ewusiak, have been urging manufacturers for years to recall these 15 passenger vehicles, or at least make changes that would make them less likely to flip over (such as adding a dual tire at the rear positions), but the companies refuse to budge.   Making matters worse, we learned just today that the First Baptist van that crashed was equipped with a recalled BFGoodrich tire manufactured by French company Michelin.  The recall notice indicated the tires may fail by tread separation, which is apparently what happened here.  That's the same kind of failure that resulted in the recall of millions of Firestone Wilderness AT and ATX tires on Ford Explorers a few years ago.   A bad tire on a rollover prone vehicle is a tragedy waiting to happen.

In this instance, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether Michelin took proper steps to notify consumers of the BFGoodrich recall, and to notify the First Baptist church specifically.  Chances are, First Baptist had no idea that the van and tire were virtual ticking time bombs.

Whenever I read about a tragedy like this one, I can't help but think that it could have been avoided by responsible product manufacturers.  I have handled dozens of cases involving tire failures and vehicle rollovers, and in literally each one the evidence showed that the manufacturers knew about a problem before the accident, but failed to take proper action to prevent loss of life.

We've written extensively about the dangers of 15 passenger vans in several articles on our website.   If you're interested in learning more, we've included some articles below to get you started.  Most importantly, if you or your church, school or community group owns a 15 passenger van, think twice before you take the vehicle on the highway.  There are much better and safer alternatives.   Maybe some day the manufacturers will do the right thing and make those vehicles safe, but in the meantime consumers have a right to know the risks they are taking when they use those vehicles.

Fatal New Port Richey 15 Passenger Van Rollover Apparently Caused by Recalled Michelin Tire

NHTSA ISSUES EIGHTH CONSUMER ADVISORY ON 15 PASSENGER VANS

MOST CATASTROPHIC TIRE TREAD SEPARATION FAILURES ARE CAUSED BY DEFECTS IN THE TIRE’S DESIGN OR MANUFACTURE