Unidentified 15 passenger van in which 10 migrant workers were killed on Monday evening, February 6, 2012. The driver of the truck which collided with the van was also killed.
Bathurst High School Phantoms Ford Econoline 350 on the morning of January 12, 2008. Eight people were killed, including seven members of the Bathurst High School Phantoms Basketball team.How many more terrible 15 passenger van collisions and deaths do we have to witness before our governments, municipal, provincial and federal, wake up to the reality that 15 passenger vans are death traps that should not be used to transport human beings?
In New Brunswick, we were witness to one of the worst 15 passenger van collisions in the country's history when eight people, including seven members of the Bathurst High School Phantoms basketball team, were killed on January 12, 2008. In the four years that have passed since the Boys in Red Tragedy, it seems we have learned absolutely nothing from their deaths. In New Brunswick, a company called Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. that is based in Prince Edward Island, has applied to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board to use 15 passenger vans to transport students to and from university in PEI and New Brunswick.
Today, February 7, 2012, the Energy and Utilities Board will meet to discuss the application from Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. for a permit to use 15 passenger vans to transport students from Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
As parents of two boys who were killed in the Boys in Red tragedy, we have made our objections known in a letter to the Board ( http://blog.vanangels.ca/2012/01/new-brunswick-energy-and-utilities.html ) which gives our reasons for objecting to the use of deadly 15 passenger vans to transport human beings.
Even though the time has passed for the public to make a formal objections, you can call the Energy and Utilities Board today and let them know that you do not want deadly 15 passenger vans transporting students in New Brunswick. Call now Telephone (506) 658-2504 Toll-Free: 1-866-766-2782.
Yesterday's terrible tragedy in Ontario is further proof that 15 passenger vans are death traps that should not be used to transport human beings. Passengers in 15 seat vans have no protection because these vans were not designed to carry human beings. Passengers in a 15 seat van collision are ejected from the vans and killed when they suffer massive injuries.
There is a safe, Canadian Standards Association (CSA) approved alternative to 15 passenger vans. It is called the Multi Function Activity Bus and there is no reason why, in this country, after so many tragic deaths in 15 passenger vans, that we are still talking about this issue today.
Call the Energy and Utilities Board TODAY. Here is their contact information
Raymond Gorman Q.C. Chairman
Energy and Utilities Board
P.O. Box 5001
15 Market Square, Suite 1400
Saint John, NB
E2L 4Y9
Via email: raymond.gorman@nbeub.ca, david.keenan@nbeub.ca, Lorraine.Legere@nbeub.ca
Telephone (506) 658-2504 Toll-Free: 1-866-766-2782
