Mini-buses earn higher safety ratings than vans

While mini-buses with school bus ratings standards cost more than 15-passenger vans, they are gaining in popularity, according to bus distributors and transportation experts.
   
The National Safety Council (NSC) writes “the risk of death to a passenger traveling in a school bus is 172 times less than someone traveling in an automobile. In fact, school buses are the safest form of transportation that exists — they are 34 times safer than train travel and four times safer than commercial aviation.”
   
A primary reason for the safety of school buses is the steel cage enclosure that exists in their design and construction, said Jim Swedenburg, coordinator of annuity and insurance services with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
   
To encourage churches to buy mini-buses instead of vans, GuideOne said it offers discounts for buying the “safer transportation.”
   
Still, more than 500,000 of 15-passenger vans still travel the nation’s roadways in 2003.
Swedenburg said if churches plan to continue use of their 15-passenger vans, they should contact their insurance company to find out its policy on the insurability of the vehicles.
   
“For the churches that have vans to sell that nobody wants, they might sell them as cargo vehicles,” Swedenburg said.
   
These vans were originally built to put cargo in, so the business trades such as plumbing and electrical could find use for them.
   
Legal authorities also advise the seller of a 15-passenger van to obtain the buyer’s signature on a disclaimer within the bill of sale in which the buyer agrees to use the van to transport cargo only, not passengers.