Arkansas rollover mirrors one here
Passengers ejected, killed in both

May 16, 2001
Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record News

by Hanaba Munn Noack

Two 15-passenger van rollover accidents in less than a week - one May 8 near Henrietta and the other Saturday in Arkansas - both took lives and bear chilling similarities.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still trying to determine what caused the Texas accident. So far the NTSB hasn't launched a similar investigation of the Arkansas accident.

"There are only so many of us," said Ken Suydam, the NTSB investigator in charge of the Texas accident investigation. "You can't investigate them all."

Results of the NTSB probe into the May 8 accident are still pending, he said.

In both accidents, the vans - one a Dodge and the other a Ford - are the type recently cited in a cautionary warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA report states that 15-passenger vans of various makes - Dodge and Ford, included - are at high risk to roll over when carrying 10 or more people.

Last week's accident on U.S. 287 between Henrietta and Jolly took the lives of four women and injured eight others -- all members of the First Assembly of God in Burkburnett. The 1993 Dodge ran off the highway onto the median and rolled over several times after a left rear tire blew out, investigating officers reported. The tire was a 16-inch Michelin approximately the same age as the van - possibly original equipment, the NTSB reported.

In Saturday's accident, the westbound 2000 Ford van rolled five times after the driver veered first onto the median of I-40 and then back across the westbound lanes and off the shoulder, according to reports from the Arkansas State Police in Little Rock and in Forrest City, near where the accident happened.

All 14 occupants, including the driver, were college students - 11 from the University of Central Arkansas at Conway and three from Hendrix College, also at Conway. The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity group was returning from an outing to Memphis, said Jim Brosam, UCA director of communications.

The van belonged to Enterprise Rental in Sherwood, Ark., near Little Rock, police said.

In both accidents, passengers were thrown from the vans in the crashes. One of the college students who died in the Arkansas crash - 20-year-old Brandon Davis of Little Rock - was ejected from the van. The other student who died, Gavin Morgan, 20, of Malvern, Ark., was partially ejected.

"That's what happens when you're not belted," said Liz Neblett, a NHTSA spokeswoman. "People do not understand how important the seat belt is. It is the No. 1 weapon in the arsenal against getting killed in a crash."

Four of the students remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon. The other eight were treated for their injuries and released.

Seven of the women in the church group were ejected from the van in the crash. Two who were ejected died.

In the church van accident, apparently only two occupants were wearing seat belts - the driver, Dorothy Griffin, 62, who was killed, and the front-seat passenger.
The women were on a shopping outing to Gainesville. Seven are still hospitalized.

In the college fraternity accident, alcohol is not being counted as a factor in the crash, Brosam said. A non-drinking member of the group was the designated driver, he said.

The van was rented from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, police said. "It's a tragedy," said Christy Conrad, a St. Louis-based spokeswoman for Enterprise.

The vehicle rental company apparently doesn't have a history of problems with 15-passenger vans.

"I have never run across a 15-passenger accident before where people were severely injured," Conrad said.

Regional Reporter Hanaba Munn Noack can be reached at (940) 763-7554 or (800) 627-1646, Ext. 554