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Statement by Lee Wilson Bosarge

Atlanta, Georgia

March 23, 2004

My name is Lee Wilson Bosarge, and I have come here today from Atlanta to help draw attention to the important 15-passenger van safety measures in the SAFETEA Act.

My daughter, Bethany, died in 2002 when the 15-passenger van she was riding in rolled over and she was ejected. The crash happened when the group she was with was on its way back from a church mission trip to Mexico City. She was put on a respirator, but her head injuries were too severe for her to survive. She was just 16.

I am here because we want to make a change. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 1990 and 2001, 1,003 people died in 15-passenger van crashes. During that time there were 316 rollovers. These figures do not include the dozens of accidents that have occurred since 2001. Yet little action has been taken.

NHTSA released a consumer safety advisory in April of 2001 and again in April of 2002, warning of the dangers of 15-passenger vans. We want to make the public truly aware of the dangers, because we don’t want anyone else to receive the phone call that there has been a 15-passenger van accident and their loved one died or was severely injured. Just a warning will not correct the problem. The automotive manufacturers know of the dangers of the 15-passenger vans and the likelihood of them rolling over. In effect, the manufacturers are responsible for the loss of many innocent lives, because they continue to make these dangerous vans and sell them to an unknowing public.

How many times have you allowed your young child to ride in a 15-passenger van to and from day care? Or your teenager to go on a trip with his church youth group? Or your college-age student who is in the prime of her life and an All-Star on her sports team to travel to a tournament in a van? Or your senior parent to go on a shopping outing with friends? Or ridden in a van from an airport to a hotel? These are just a few examples of situations in which people have been killed or severely injured in 15-passenger vans.

A total recall of 15-passenger vans needs to take place. We demand that manufacturers make a change in order to save lives. All vans should be retrofitted with dual wheels in back to add stability, and the roof structure needs to be reinforced to prevent roof crush in the event of a rollover.

The cost for manufacturers to correct these problems is minimal, and I am sure they would pass the cost on to the consumer. However, by correcting the problem, manufacturers would have to admit they have a defective product. So nothing is done, and more innocent people are killed each year by these 15-passenger vans. I ask auto manufacturers, what price do you place on a human life? What if it was your child who was killed by a defective product you made?

Passing this legislation is the first step that Congress can take to help save many lives. There should be stricter guidelines to make them more stable and stronger in crashes. The vans must be redesigned to protect passengers in rollover and side impact crashes, and to comply with school bus and other federal safety standards from which they are now exempt.

Until manufacturers correct the problem, I and others who have lost loved ones to crashes in 15-passenger vans have created a nonprofit organization called Van Angels, which helps groups owning 15-passenger vans pay for the dual-wheel retrofit. It is in no way meant to excuse the manufacturers from the liability of a defective product they continue to make. But we are "Saving lives. One van at a time."

We call on Congress and auto manufacturers to please step up to the plate and take responsibility and help save lives and not allow more people to be killed all for the sake of money.

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