Saturday, May 29, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Parliamentarians Use MFAVs to shuttle around Parliament Hill: They don't use 15 passenger vans for a good reason
We couldn't help but notice that Parliament Hill staffers and MPs use the CSA approved, safer Multi Function Activity Vehicles (MFAVs) to shuttle around the Parliamentary district.
Stella Gurr, left, and Isabelle Hains, right, in front of a House of Commons MFAV on Parliament Hill, May 28, 2010.
They certainly don't use 15 passenger vans. The irony is that we are here in Ottawa trying to convince the same Parliamentarians to ban 15 passenger vans for student use and we are surrounded by MFAVs. Rest assured that our politicians are safe when they travel around Parliament Hill. Don't you think our children deserve the same safe mode of travel?
Photo of 15 passenger van courtesy of Education for the Driving Masses website
http://www.educationforthedrivingmasses.com/2010/05/bill-calls-for-ban-on-15-passenger-vans.html
The Bathurst High School Phantoms 15 passenger van, January 13, 2008. Photo by Sandor Fizli.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Van safety bill recalls 8 N.B. deaths
NDP MP will introduce 'Boys in Red' private member's bill
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/26/nb-boys-in-red-bill.html#ixzz0pBfiirXG
The mother of one of seven New Brunswick basketball players killed in a van crash in 2008 is in Ottawa to support a bill that would ban the use of 15-passenger vans by schools.
Isabelle Hains's local MP, Yvon Godin, is scheduled to table a private member’s bill Thursday to impose a cross-Canada ban on school use of such vans.
"This is another step in the right direction for student safety," said Hains.
Seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the wife of the coach, who was also a teacher at the school, were killed after their 15-passenger vehicle collided with a truck on a snow-covered highway just outside of their hometown on Jan. 12, 2008.
Within days of the accident, New Brunswick banned the use of the vans by schools.
'I know in my heart that what happened to them that night could have been, and should have been, prevented.'—Isabelle Hains, mother of Daniel Hains
The 15-passenger vans had already been banned in several American states because of safety concerns. They have been known to roll over in crashes.
"I know in my heart that what happened to them that night could have been, and should have been, prevented and the children are saying now, 'Don’t let this happen again,'" said the mother of Daniel Hains.
Bill called wake-up call
A coroner’s inquest made several recommendations, including making winter tires mandatory and banning the vans for student travel across the country.
Godin, NDP MP for Acadie-Bathurst, said his "Boys in Red" bill, referring to the basketball players' uniforms, will be introduced Thursday afternoon in the Commons and he hopes it’s a wake-up call for the federal government.
He’s hoping the minority Conservative government will support the bill quickly. Godin and Hains will lobby other MPs and senators to get the bill passed.
“I’m not asking to intervene in provincial jurisdiction, but the federal [government] is responsible to make sure any vehicle travelling in the country is a safe vehicle and they have that right to legislate,” said Godin.
“They could have this [bill] done by September if they want to,” said Hains. “These are our children. Children that depend on adults to keep them safe.”
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/26/nb-boys-in-red-bill.html#ixzz0pBg4pPSb
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/26/nb-boys-in-red-bill.html#ixzz0pBfiirXG
The mother of one of seven New Brunswick basketball players killed in a van crash in 2008 is in Ottawa to support a bill that would ban the use of 15-passenger vans by schools.
Isabelle Hains's local MP, Yvon Godin, is scheduled to table a private member’s bill Thursday to impose a cross-Canada ban on school use of such vans.
"This is another step in the right direction for student safety," said Hains.
Seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the wife of the coach, who was also a teacher at the school, were killed after their 15-passenger vehicle collided with a truck on a snow-covered highway just outside of their hometown on Jan. 12, 2008.
Within days of the accident, New Brunswick banned the use of the vans by schools.
'I know in my heart that what happened to them that night could have been, and should have been, prevented.'—Isabelle Hains, mother of Daniel Hains
The 15-passenger vans had already been banned in several American states because of safety concerns. They have been known to roll over in crashes.
"I know in my heart that what happened to them that night could have been, and should have been, prevented and the children are saying now, 'Don’t let this happen again,'" said the mother of Daniel Hains.
Bill called wake-up call
A coroner’s inquest made several recommendations, including making winter tires mandatory and banning the vans for student travel across the country.
Godin, NDP MP for Acadie-Bathurst, said his "Boys in Red" bill, referring to the basketball players' uniforms, will be introduced Thursday afternoon in the Commons and he hopes it’s a wake-up call for the federal government.
He’s hoping the minority Conservative government will support the bill quickly. Godin and Hains will lobby other MPs and senators to get the bill passed.
“I’m not asking to intervene in provincial jurisdiction, but the federal [government] is responsible to make sure any vehicle travelling in the country is a safe vehicle and they have that right to legislate,” said Godin.
“They could have this [bill] done by September if they want to,” said Hains. “These are our children. Children that depend on adults to keep them safe.”
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/26/nb-boys-in-red-bill.html#ixzz0pBg4pPSb
Nanaimo mom continues fight against 15-passenger vans
To read the full article, go to : http://www.montrealgazette.com
NANAIMO, B.C. — A Nanaimo, B.C., mother whose son was killed in a crash in a 15-passenger van is travelling to Ottawa for the introduction this week of a private member’s bill limiting the use of the vans.
Stella Gurr lost her son Michael, 26, in a rollover in Manitoba in 2008. He was on a cross-Canada tour with his Vancouver-based band, The Hotel Lobbyists, when the 15-passenger van in which he was riding in flipped several times along the Trans-Canada Highway.
A year after his death, Gurr corralled family and friends through mass e-mails and spurred hundreds of letters sent to Transport Canada urging officials to take action against the vans she and safety experts have referred to as "death traps."
Research has suggested the vans, originally designed to carry cargo, lack passenger protections, such as reinforced steel frames, have a high centre of gravity and are more prone to rollovers.
Gurr has banded with parents in New Brunswick, who have campaigned for safety changes since the deaths of seven boys and a teacher in a 15-passenger van crash in Bathurst, N.B., in 2008. A coroner’s inquest following that tragedy recommended such vans be banned across Canada for student travel. Several provinces have since outlawed the vans for school use.
Gurr will meet some of the Bathurst parents for the first time on Wednesday, when she lands in Ottawa. On Thursday, she will be at Parliament Hill to support the introduction in the House of Commons of a bill to ban 15-passenger vans for transporting schoolchildren.It is sponsored by NDP MP Yvon Godin of Acadie-Bathhurst.
Following its introduction, the Bathurst parents have planned a news conference. Gurr doesn’t plan to speak but wants to be there for her son.
"For me personally, I gain nothing. I can never get back what I lost," said Gurr. "But I can possibly support the Bathurst mothers and save other lives. That’s my only agenda."
Gurr believes if the vans had been properly licensed and regulated by Transport Canada, the Bathurst boys and her son would be alive.
Nanaimo Daily News
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Nanaimo+continues+fight+against+passenger+vans/3065855/story.html#ixzz0pBclxAWI
Bill calls for national ban on 'deadly' passenger vans
Bryan Murphy, a B.C. safety advocate and a school bus driver and mechanic poses in front of 15-passenger vans in Vancouver seen in this file photo.
Photograph by: Don MacKinnon, Canwest News Service
Read the full story at: http://www.montrealgazette.com
By Laura Stone, Canwest News Service May 27, 2010
OTTAWA — A private member's bill to impose a national ban on "deadly" 15-passenger vans for student travel — and eventually all passenger travel in such vehicles in Canada — was introduced Thursday by a New Democrat MP who is urging the Conservative government to act.
The bill, from New Brunswick MP Yvon Godin, proposes a change to the Criminal Code that would make it an offence to transport students in vans with more than 10 seats and less than 17 seats.
It was a 15-passenger van that was involved in a high-profile accident that killed seven students and a teacher in Bathurst, N.B., on Jan. 12, 2008.
It would also limit the sale, import and inter-provincial shipment of vans and van parts in Canada, leading to an all-out ban on the "deadly" vehicles when used to transport passengers, said Godin.
"The reason why these vans are so dangerous is simple: They were never designed to transport passengers. They were designed to transport goods," said Godin.
"I hope for the good of the safety of our children, that the government takes the lead on this . . . and introduces a bill right after this one."
The proposed legislation would set federal regulations on the vehicles — a move that is currently done at the provinces' discretion.
Following the accident in Bathurst, a coroner's inquest recommended the vans be banned across Canada for transporting students to school and after-school activities. However, a Canwest News Service investigation last year revealed that only three provinces — Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia — have imposed bans.
Transport Minister John Baird was not available for comment, but a spokesman said the minister was aware of the bill introduced Thursday.
"This accident was a real tragedy, and the minister hasn't seen the bill yet but he's happy to meet with Mr. Godin to go over his bill to put politics aside and to see what can be done," said James Kusie, Baird's spokesman.
With the image of her teenage son pinned to her lapel against a red ribbon, Isabelle Hains echoed Godin's plea for government action.
Her son, Daniel, was a member of the Bathurst High School basketball team — dubbed the Boys in Red after the accident — who was killed when their 15-passenger van swerved on the Trans-Canada Highway, colliding with a transport truck.
The New Brunswick ban was put in place after Daniel's death.
Hains said she wants a Canada-wide ban to protect others.
"The children in New Brunswick, and the children in Ontario, and Manitoba, and every other province — they're all equal. So if they're banned in New Brunswick, there's a reason why, because those vehicles are not safe for transporting children," said Hains, who carried framed pictures of her son and his teammates to Ottawa, where she witnessed the bill's introduction in Parliament.
"I know better than anyone else what could happen in a second," she said.
An inquest showed that the vans lack safety features in cars and buses that protect passengers in a crash, such as steel side plates, reinforced roofs, laminated windows and, in the case of school buses, padding and emergency exits.
The vans have also been shown to have a dangerously high centre of gravity, a tendency to fishtail at high speeds, and commonly experience loss of steering control.
The Safety Forum, a U.S. consumer watchdog, called 12 and 15-seat vans "death traps," and the U.S. government has banned their sale for the purposes of transporting children.
A Transport Canada report on the accident, issued prior to the coroner's report, blamed the crash on bad winter weather, driver error and the poor mechanical condition of the school van, but not on the van design itself.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com
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