Passenger vans yield to safety concerns
Rollover potential forces athletes to hitch a ride

By Chrissy Braden
Staff Reporter

TCU Administration has put a hold on the use of 15-passenger vans after an April 9 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed evidence of an increased risk of rolling over when the vans are fully loaded.

Jack Hesselbrock, associate athletic director for internal relations, said TCU mandated the hold April 10 because of the perceived danger of the vans. He said the vans would not be used to transport teams until another study could disprove the study, which concluded the vans were three times more likely to rollover when carrying more than 10 passengers.

The NHTSA began researching problems with 15-passenger vans after several rollovers occurred, including one in February 2000 at Prairie View A&M University that killed four members of the track team.

Hesselbrock said the accident made him consider the possibility of a similar tragedy happening with TCU students, but it did not call for a change in TCU’s policy.

“It makes you think about how you’d react if it happened at your school and wonder if it’s an unsafe vehicle,” he said.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association does not have a policy regarding van travel by member institutions but issued an advisory to its member schools about the 15-passenger van report April 10.

“I think all member schools are interested in safety issues, and they will see how it applies to them,” said Wallace I. Renfro, NCAA director of public relations in an NCAA Web site article.

The golf, tennis and track teams use the 15-passenger vans, which TCU only authorizes to be driven by faculty, to travel to some away contests and to the airport.

The order has already created difficulties for some programs within the athletic department.

“Obviously, we want to do what’s safe for the kids,” said men’s tennis coach Joey Rive. “But we spent $225 on a van to the airport when it would have been free to use the (15-passenger) vans we already have. We’re going to have to come up with more money out of our budget.”

Hesselbrock said there would not be a budget compensation this year because it only affects the last five weeks of school. But he said there may be some compensation if the ban is still in place next year.

“This study was done after the budget for next year was already put to bed,” Hesselbrock said. “But if this (the ban) is still in place next year, we will have to do something.”

Women’s tennis coach Roland Ingram said the tennis team used the vans every time they took a trip.

“If we play a tournament that’s at two sites, then we can take a van to each site,” Ingram said. “You can’t do that with one big bus.”

Head swimming coach Richard Sybesma said the swimming team uses buses 80 percent of the time and has only used vans twice this year, but he said the ban on the use of 15-passenger vans will still affect his department.

“We use vans when we’re team traveling for a fairly close trip like San Antonio or Dallas,” Sybesma said. “But we’re using buses only now.”

Hesselbrock said it may be possible to continue using the vans if the drivers have special training with 15-passenger vans or if they are only filled to a certain capacity.

“Ideas have been tossed around on a driver’s training course to alert you to the dangers of (rollovers),” he said.
Until a study disproves the NHTSA report or measures to make the vans safer are found, TCU’s vans will sit in parking lots reserved for coaches’ errands instead of team travel.

Chrissy Braden
l.c.braden@student.tcu.edu