Please Complete Survey at your Seat and Hand in to Collins This will be back ground information for article in ACAP Newsletter about this program. Thanks

15 Passenger Vans Still Unsafe at any Speed or Are They? ACAP Workshop March 19,2008 Presented by Collins Downing

Outline of Workshop Introductions Fall from Grace Investigation of Safety Systems GM Video Review Crash Test Ratings Rating Exercise/Comparisons Break Present Findings to Group Summary and Questions

Why 15 Passenger Vans Fell From Grace In emergency maneuvers vans rolled over and killed people, 80% of folks killed were NOT wearing a safety belt! Manufactures were not proactive/reactive enough to fix issues! Poor oversight by Operators/Drivers. 60 Minutes TV segment. Insurance became costly and hard to get.

Issues with15 Passenger Vans Lack of electronic safety systems ! 80 % of fatalities in vans were not wearing safety belts! A fully loaded 15 passenger van causes the center of gravity to move up 4 inches and to the rear of the van. These factors in a sudden emergency maneuver could cause a van to “trip” over it’s rear wheels. Tires pressures on 57 percent of the vans were found to be under inflated! Drivers were not trained!

Manufactures Answers to 15 Passenger Van Issues Computer Systems- ABS,ESC,RSC,TCS,TPMS, Curtain/Side Air Bags Improved Safety Belts- 3 Point, SBP,EM Improved Roll Cages Some New Design Better Education of How Vans Drive Let’s investigate!

ESC= Electronic Stability Control What ESC does: Detects the differences between steering wheel angle and direction van is moving. How ESC Works: In conjunction with other systems, ESC selectively applies brakes and modulates engine power to keep van on track. Federal Government has mandated ESC on all Light Vehicles by Found to reduce rollovers by 56%!

ABS=Anti-Lock Braking Systems What ABS does: Prevents the wheels from locking up, allowing the driver to maintain control of the vehicle. How ABS Works: Sensing a wheel lock-up, the computer rapidly adjust the brake pressure to that wheel. During operation you may hear a grinding noise and or feel a rapid movement in the brake pedal. ABS works in conjunction with other systems such as ESC and TSC Systems.

TCS-Traction Control Systems What TCS does: Prevents vehicle’s wheels from loosing traction with the ground. How TCS works: Computer senses lost of traction and automatically reduces engine power and or adds braking force.

RSC-Roll Stability Control What RSC Does: Monitors vehicles center of gravity while vehicle is in motion and activates other chassis control systems to prevent roll over! How RSC Works Utilizes a gyroscopic sensors to monitor vehicle roll motion, RSC shares that information with other systems such as: ABS,ESC,TCS and others to keep vehicle up right..

TPMS-Tire Pressure Monitoring System What TPMS Does: Notifies driver of dangerous tire pressures via dash lights. How TPMS Works: Via sensors at each wheel, a signal is sent to the computer which determines wheel location, under or over inflation and activates the corresponding dash light.

Other Safety Systems Side/Curtain Air Bags Safety Belts- 3-Point, Pretension, Energy Management Enhanced Technology Safety Glass Driver Alertness Control Speed Governor On-Star

Manufactures Names of Crash Avoidance Systems Developed by Robert Bosch GmBH Also know as: GM’s-Stabili Trak, Ford’s-Advanced Trak, Dodge’s-Adaptive Electronic Stability Program (AESP) General Motors-: “Stabili Trak” ABS-Anti-lock Brake System TCS-Traction Control System ESC-Electronic Stability Control (Yaw Control) RSC-Roll Stability Control TPMS-Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Manufactures Names of Crash Avoidance Systems Dodge- “Adaptive Electronic Stability Control” Ford- “Advance Trak” includes: ABS-Anti-lock Brake System TCS-Traction Control System ESC-Electronic Stability Control RSC-Roll Stability Control TPMS-Tire Pressure Monitoring System ABS-Anti-lock Brake System LAC-Load Adaptive Control ASC-Acceleration Skid Control EBFD-Electronic Brakes Force Dist. ERM-Electronic Roll Mitigation TPMS-Tire Pressure Monitoring System

GM SAFETY DVD HOW ALL SAFETY SYSTEMS WORK TOGETHER IN PREVENTING ACCIDENTS! Representative of how all systems work. Copy for you to take home! Sorry, no popcorn!

NHTSA Crash Ratings Vehicle Frontal Star Rating based on risk of head & chest injury based on risk of head & chest injury Side Star Rating based on risk of chest injury based on risk of chest injury Rollover Rating DriverPassengerFront SeatRear Seat 2 wheel drive 4 wheel drive 2008 Chevrolet Express Van Passenger Van w/SAB2008 Chevrolet Express Van Passenger Van w/SAB (Van)(Van) Not rated  2008 Dodge Sprinter 2500 Van2008 Dodge Sprinter 2500 Van (Van)(Van) Not rated 2008 Ford E Passenger Wagon2008 Ford E Passenger Wagon (Van)(Van) Not rated 

NHTSA Rollover Ratings GM 2008 Vans Chance of Rollover 27% Static Stability Factor 1.09 Dynamic Test Result No-tip Dodge not rated! Ford 2008 E-350 Chance of Rollover 30% Static Stability Factor 1.07 Dynamic Test Result No-tip

All Things Being Equal The longer the wheel base, wider the track, shorter the height, lessen the likely hood of a rollover. Today’s vans are safer because of improved safety systems, BUT no amount of safety features can over come physics!

Rating Exercises Work Sheet Instructions Spend 15 minutes reviewing and sharing each of the information sheets, in your group resource packet. Rate each topic listed and add any of your own. Please mark each page directly on table-NCR Copies On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest. Example: You rate Tilt/Telescoping steering a 10, but one of the vans has only the tilt feature, how would you rate that van, a 6, 7? I will be here to answer any questions I can! Add up your columns and check you winner! Discuss your findings with your group: Who was your winner? What were your top 10 most important safety features? What additional features did you add and why? Were you happy with your winner why or why not? What was and were your happy with your insurance rating? Will you buy you winner Yes or No, Why? Pick a group spokes person to share with the room your groups: Number that chose___ Ford, ___ Dodge, ___Chevy as the winner What were your top 10 most important safety features? What additional features did you add and why? Were you happy with your winner why or why not? Other comments Collect top sheet of rating exercise and hand in to Collins for ACAP article from this presentation.

Group Presentations Who’s first ?

Summary 2008 vans are substantially safer! Safety belts must be on at all times! Drivers must be trained. Policies must be developed, widely disseminated and enforced! Tires kept inflated and checked daily! No amount of safety features can overcome Physics!

Questions Your Questions? Please hand in your top sheets and survey! Thank You! Have a Safe Trip Home. If you need to contact me