Professional Video of Winter Tire Tests on 21 Passenger MFAV

Toronto Star's Wheels.ca: Moms' safety crusade pays off

N.B. tightens rules as mothers of killed teens arrange test proving winter tires' importance

Mar 06, 2010 by John Mahler Special to the Star, Wheels.ca

BRIMLEY, MICH.–On a crisp, cold day last week, Isabelle Hains, Ana Acevedo and Marcella Kelly stood on the hard-packed snow of the vast Continental Tire testing grounds here, near Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and watched as a bright yellow school minibus came to a full ABS emergency stop in a lane of traffic cones.

In this photo, all seasons on front, winters on rear. The obstacle represents where the same bus outfitted with six winter tires on all four axles had stopped. Photo by John Mahler, February 24, 2010, Continental Tires Testing Facility, near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Without winter tires on the front axle, the bus can't stop in the same distance. In this photo, all seasons on front, winters on rear. Photo by John Mahler, February 24, 2010, Continental Tires Testing Facility, near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Continental's chief test driver, Baldemar Carmona, was putting the bus through its paces to show the women what was possible for a minibus properly equipped with winter tires.

Videos of individual minibus tire tests.

The three women lost sons in a crash between a school van and a transport truck in January 2008 outside Bathurst, N.B. Seven young men and one adult were killed.

This extraordinary tire test was to prove to the New Brunswick government's departments of education and transportation that if winter tires are fitted to a vehicle, they must be fitted to all wheel positions. And that winter tires on all four wheels work much better than a mixed tire set-up.

After the inquest into the crash that killed the young men, New Brunswick passed a law requiring winter tires on all school vehicles. However, it excluded multi-function activity vehicles, or MFAVs, the kind of buses that take children to after-school activities.

An MFAV is a yellow school minibus painted white and lacking the extendable stop sign. That the province's education department allowed winter tires on the rear and all-seasons on the front was a tragically wrong decision – and now, for the first time, there's proof.

As it happens, the day before the tests, the New Brunswick government announced it was changing the regulation to mandate winter tires all round on minibuses. Score a victory for the women (see accompanying story).

Meanwhile, Carmona and his crew had worked from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. the night before the tire tests, doing endless reruns with the bus loaded with instruments to provide measurements down to centimetres. They tested every tire combination along with a set of control tires. The data were irrefutable: using winter tires at all positions was the safest practice by a huge margin.

"We have to have all this data," explained Jay Spears, Continental's technical manager. "No test is valid unless it is repeatable by another crew in another place. Any test must be scientifically valid."

Continental's chief test driver brought the bus, fitted with winter tires on all axles, to a halt in a quick 38.7 metres from a speed of 60 km/h on hard-packed snow. A Styrofoam barrier was placed across the lane at the spot the bus had stopped.

Then the tire configuration was changed to the New Brunswick mixed-tire set-up: premium quality all-seasons on the front, winters on the back. The minibus approached at exactly the same speed and the driver braked, but now the bus showed no chance of stopping. It hit the barrier with a thwack and the barrier exploded into pieces.

Marcella Kelly winced at the sound as the barrier cushions went flying.

It took the vehicle a substantial 11 metres more to come to a stop at 49.6 metres which, after using sophisticated instrument tracking and calculations, means a braking ability of just 71.6 per cent of the set-up with all winter tires.

Continental conducted two other tests. One, measuring cornering ability, proved eye-opening. The bus drove into a large sweeping corner at ever-increasing speed until it could no longer make the turn.

The winter tire combo produced a grip of 0.417 G (the G-force is the force pulling on you when you go around a corner).

The mixed tire set-up produced a mediocre 0.181 G, just 43.5 per cent of the winter tire's grip – barely better than a set of all-season tires on all axles, which produced a grip of 0.173 G.

The final test was the most dramatic, requiring the braking and turning abilities of the previous exercises. It simulated driving down a road, discovering a lane is blocked, and not having enough distance to stop – as if someone suddenly backed out of their driveway or a deer ran onto the road. The objective was to brake as hard as possible, then steer around the object.

Approaching at 65 km/h with four winter tires installed, the minibus made the turn.

A barrier simulating a stalled car at the turn was put up and the tires were changed to front all-seasons. The bus approached at the same speed and on braking, dramatically smashed into the "car," spreading Styrofoam everywhere.

It was obvious that despite a pronounced turning of the front all-season tires, the bus just could not respond and continued into a head-on collision.

Videos of individual minibus tire tests.

Toronto Star's Wheels.ca: Persistent Mothers Get Results

Women take up the cause of school vehicle safety – and win

Mar 06, 2010, Toronto Star, Wheels.ca

When you need a law changed, who do you call? In New Brunswick, call some moms.

Late last month, Isabelle Hains, Ana Acevedo and Marcella Kelly achieved victory in their campaign to mandate winter tires on school-type minibuses in New Brunswick.

From left, Isabelle Hains, Ana Acevedo and Marcella Kelly, whose sons were killed in a crash in 2008, watch the tire tests they arranged last month at Continental Tire’s Michigan testing grounds.

But this was a victory born of tragedy – and frustration.

The women lost their sons in a crash between a school van and a transport truck in January 2008. The teens were returning from a basketball game and were five minutes from their destination when their vehicle fishtailed on a slippery highway outside Bathurst, N.B., and slammed into a truck. Seven high school students were killed, along with the wife of their coach.

The mourning mothers took up the cause of school vehicle safety to honour the memory of the victims.

Last October, they requested that the province change to an all-winter tire configuration on school minibuses, known as multi-function activity vehicles (MFAVs). But the government ignored them.

Expert opinions from Continental, Bridgestone, Michelin, Toyo, Transport Canada and several driving instructors only seemed to stiffen the government's determination to resist buying winter tires for the front wheels of the 14 incorrectly equipped minibuses in its fleet.

The province relied on a single report from a government consultant to support its decision to run all-seasons in front and winter tires on the back, despite the fact that Transport Canada had already sent several letters and emails pointing out that winter tires all around was safest.

The mothers continued their campaign for change. Then Joerg Burfien, head of research and design at Continental Tire, offered a solution: it would conduct a scientific, instrumented test of tire fitments at their Brimley Proving Ground near Sault Ste Marie, Mich. – for free.

No one had ever tested an MFAV or school minibus. This would be a first in North America.

Girardin Minibus Inc. of Drummondville, Que., stepped up and offered a brand new MicroBird model minibus for the test.

The only obstacle left was transporting the MFAV to Michigan by flatbed. The mothers contacted the Loblaw grocery chain – and with one email they got the help they needed. "Thanks so much for your note. We would indeed love to help with the project you suggest," was the reply from Allan Leighton, president and deputy chairman of Loblaw.

The mothers invited Transport Canada to the Continental test, but the department did not reply. The Michigan test was set for Feb. 24.

In the meantime, Transport Canada conducted last-minute tests. Looking at the web-posted video of them, it's obvious to anyone with even minimal tire-testing experience that they have zero scientific validity. (Go to tiny.cc/BusTestVideos and watch the white minibus bouncing through the fields.)

Yet on the day before the Michigan tests, New Brunswick announced it would now mandate winter tires all-round on minibuses, based on a Transport Canada test.

New Brunswick's Minister of Transport, Denis Landry, was not informed by Transport Canada that it was about to undertake testing, said transportation department spokesperson Andrew Holland. Landry learned that the test had been done only when the Transport Canada results were released, Holland said.

Meanwhile, the mothers had already flown to Michigan at their own expense. New Brunswick Minister of Education Roland Hache did not even inform them of the regulatory change as he had said he would. In fact, he insisted he did not know that tests were being done on his department's vehicles.

So the mothers flew home in the knowledge that they honoured their sons Daniel Hains, 17, Javier Acevedo, 17, and Nicholas Kelly, 15. They can be proud that now other schoolchildren will be safer as they head off to games and outings in the winter.

That victory should have been theirs in October with the first letter to the government.

Why We Do What We Do and Why We'll Never Stop

Continental Tire helps to improve traffic safety of students

Continental Tire’s execution of a winter tire test on small school buses, supports the Ministry of Education in taking immediate action and equip all its multi-function activity vehicles (MFAV) with six winter tires.

Ana Acevedo, Isabelle Hains and Marcella Kelly in front of Continental Tires testing facility in Brimley, Michigan, February 24, 2010.

TORONTO, ON – (March 5, 2010) – Following the New Brunswick Department of Education guidelines, small school buses only needed to be outfitted with winter tires on the (dual) rear axle in the past. All-season tires were recommended for the front axle.

Shockingly, this policy has not been changed even after the tragic collision of a school van with a transport truck in January 2008, claiming the lives of seven New Brunswick high school students and their teacher.

The test 21 passenger MFAV that was used at the Continental Tires test facility in Brimley, Michigan, USA on February 24, 2010, "In Memory Of The Boys In Red".

Experts have been debating over the last couple of months which would be the safest tire fitment for these types of vehicles. For Continental Tire, who ranks safety first, this was more than reason enough to take the lead and offer the execution of a winter tire test on small school buses at its state-of-the-art proving ground in Brimley, MI.

Continental Tire chose to investigate in three different scenarios: braking on snow with a 21 passenger MFAV outfitted with the Original Equipment (all-season tires on both axles), braking on snow with a MFAV outfitted with winter tires in the rear and all-season tires in the front, and braking on snow with a MFAV outfitted with winter tires on all four wheels.

The difference was profound: It took the MFAV with mixed fitment of winter tires and all-season tires as favored by the New Brunswick government about 30% longer to come to a full stop compared to the use of winter tires on all axles. It got even worse when compared to the Original Equipment fitment of the bus (All-season tires on all axles) – the stopping distance was over 50% longer, an additional 21 meters from 60 km/h.

Marcella Kelly, Isabelle Hains and Ana Acevedo with Jay Spears of Continental Tires at Continental Tires testing facility in Brimley, Michigan, USA, February 24, 2010.

"You will for sure not be able to stop as fast as you're able to accelerate because traction for all-season tires in snow is much lower. When you brake, your weight is shifting forward, so the increased traction in the rear is not helping much” says Joerg Burfien, Continental Tire's director of R&D for the Americas.

"The same is valid for steering or steering response. You will have very high traction on the rear axle and very limited traction on the front which will promote excessive under-steering conditions” he further explains.

“Our test results now clearly underline our initial recommendation to run winter tires on all axles. With a mixed fitment (A/S front and winter rear) the bus already fails a simple accident avoidance maneuver at 60 km/h while it passes on winter tires just fine. This is probably the most convincing argument for the use of winter tires and we are glad that authorities are now changing their recommendation to the use of winter tires on all axles effective immediately.” Burfien continued.

Continental Tire is very proud to have made a significant contribution to traffic safety in Canada and thus ensuring the maximum safety for students on wintry roads in the future.

Isabelle Hains, Martin Cuisineau of Continental Tires, Ana Acevedo and Marcella Kelly at Continental Tires testing facility in Brimely, Michigan, USA, February 24, 2010.

On Line Media Database

On-line media database: www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com

North America on-line media database: www.CTAMedia.com, www.CTAMedia.mobi

About Continental Tire

Continental Tire is a division of the Continental Corporation, and offers a complete premium line of ultra-high performance, passenger and light truck tires that instill confidence and a passion for driving. Continental tires are fitted as original equipment on many of the world’s finest automobiles. Learn more about Continental Tire by visiting us at www.continentaltire.ca.

With sales of approximately €20 billion in 2009 Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental contributes enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately 134,500 in 46 countries.

Did Ministers Delay Announcement by Five Days? Right to Information Request, This Time About Who Knew What and When

Like a lot of people who heard the news last Tuesday that the New Brunswick Departments of Education and Transportation had decided to change the winter tire policy on 21 passenger MFAVs, we have a sneaking suspicion it was more than coincidence that the announcement just happened to take place fifteen minutes after we arrived at our hotel in Michigan!

We've had some very interesting results with previous Right to Information requests, showing the duplicity and underhanded actions of our politicians and bureaucrats who think they are so smart, who claim to be working for us, the lowly citizens who dare to ask them questions they do not want to answer.

So here we go again. We have reason to believe that Denis Landry, the NB Minister of Transportation, (that's him at the top left) knew well in advance of our departure for Michigan on Monday, February 22, that Transport Canada had conducted tests on 21 passenger MFAVs the week before, that he knew the results of the tests pointed to winter tires being safest on these vehicles, and they he chose to hold off on the announcement for nearly a week so that we would be safely out of the country.

We have the same suspicions about Roland Hache, the NB Minister of Education, (that's him to the right) so we've written the exact same letter to him, with the same request under the Right to Information Act. Mr. Hache denied knowing anything about the tests when we spoke to him on Tuesday afternoon from Michigan. We sincerely hope he was not stretching the truth, or as Winston Churchill once said, "I wasn't lying it was a terminological inexactitude."

We hope that we are wrong: we'd hate to think that politicians would play such dangerous games with childrens' lives by allowing those 21 passenger MFAVs to be used with unsafe tires for another five or six days just so they could score some political points against us.

Here's the letter to Hon. Denis Landry, NB Minister of Transportation. We sent the same one to Hon. Roland Hache, Minister of Education.

______ Letter to Hon. Denis Landry ________


March 3, 2010

Minister Denis Landry
Constituency Office: Centre-Peninsule-Saint-Sauveur
1344-3 des Fondateurs Street
Paquetville, New Brunswick
E8R1A4

(Original sent to Minister Landry under separate cover)

Hon. Denis Landry:

Re: Request under Right To Information Act

We are writing this request for information under the Right to Information Act. Enclosed you will find $5 fee to cover the costs of this request.

We would like copies of any recent correspondence (since January 8th , 2010 to March 3, 2010) between the New Brunswick Department of Transportation, the New Brunswick Department of Education and Transport Canada regarding the testing and use of winter tires on the 21 passenger Multi-Function Activity Vehicles (MFAVs) in the provincial fleet.

Specifically, we are interested in correspondence related to Transport Canada’s recent tests of winter tires on 21 passenger MFAVs and whether the NB Departments of Transportation and Education were aware of the planned testing before the winter tire announcement of February 23, 2010.

We have reason to believe that the Departments of Education and Transportation were fully involved in the tests and knew full well of the location and date of the tests, that the Departments of Education and Transportation withheld the information completed by Transport Canada that showed all winter tires for the MFAV during the winter months are the safest option. The results confirm Transport Canada’s long-standing position that the use of winter tires on all wheels improves vehicle stability, steer ability and braking in winter conditions. We, Isabelle, Marcella, and Ana were contacted by the media in Michigan about the press release by NB Transportation/Education, one day before we began our independent tests at Continental Tires on February 24.

We are therefore requesting all the correspondence related to such testing from both provincial government departments. We want to know:

1. Where did Transport Canada undertake the scientific testing of winter tires on 21 passenger MFAVs at the request of the province of New Brunswick?

2. When did Transport Canada undertake the scientific testing of winter tires on 21 passenger MFAVs at the request of the province of New Brunswick?

3. How long did the Departments of Transportation and Education have the verbal and written results of Transport Canada's scientific testing of winter tires on 21 passenger MFAVs before the province announced it was changing its winter tire policy for these vehicles on February 23, 2010?

4. Did the Departments of Education and / or Transportation deliberately ask Transport Canada to hurry the tests so the results would be available before we began our independent tests at Continental Tires in Michigan on February 24, 2010.

5. Was there a deliberate attempt by the Departments of Transportation and Education to withhold the results of Transport Canada's scientific testing until we left to go to Michigan for our own independent test, the results which were to be released on Wednesday February 24, 2010.

6. We want a copy of the Transport Canada winter tire test report on the 21 passengers Multifunction Activity Vehicle.

We have an incredible amount of patience and we can wait or you can offer this information quickly but we suggest that it is in your interest to answer our questions as soon as possible as we intend to raise this issue with the Opposition.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Yours sincerely,


Isabelle Hains
Marcella Kelly
Ana Acevedo

cc. Hon. Premier Shawn Graham
cc. Hon. Roland Hache
cc. Hon. John Foran
cc. NDP Roger Duguay

Editorial, Opinion and Letter to the Editor in Northern Light, Bathurst Newspaper

In today's Northern Light, the weekly newspaper for Bathurst, New Brunswick, there were three articles related to the winter tire issue: an Editorial, an op-Ed piece and our Letter to the Editor which we submitted last week after our winter tire tests were completed at Continental Tires and we were still in Michigan.

All we can say is that the articles speak for themselves.

Op Ed Piece by Paul Chapman
Click to read the full article in .jpg format



Editorial
Click to read the full article in .jpg format



Letter to the Editor
Click to read Letter to the Editor in .jpg format