Only the College of Eastern Utah has yet to replace all of its large vans, but that should be accomplished in the next month or so, according to Amanda Covington, spokeswoman for the Utah Board of Regents.
The state's universities and colleges had 81 vans with 15-passenger capacities in use a year ago - 32 of them at USU.
The policy change was prompted by the Sept. 26, 2005, accident. A USU van, driven by an agriculture instructor, was carrying 10 students back to the Logan campus after a farm field trip. It blew a tire west of Tremonton on Interstate 84 and rolled down an embankment.
All 11 men were thrown from the vehicle. Nine died, and two students were seriously injured. It was one in a series of accidents nationally involving the 15-passenger vans, which universities and colleges had been warned about in 2001.
Within months of the USU accident, Higher Education Commissioner Richard Kendall asked the institutions to replace the vans.
USU already had grounded its fleet, and just this month took delivery on its last of three 15-passenger miniature school buses, said motor-pool manager Kevin Phillips. He described them as "way safe."
In addition, USU purchased seven new seven-passenger minivans last fall to handle group travel, and Phillips said it might buy more mini-buses if the three are unable to handle demand.
All mini-bus drivers must take two hours of classroom instruction and two hours of driving lessons in the buses, he said. And the university requires passengers to wear seat belts.
USU sold its 15-passenger vans mostly to individuals, but also to other governmental agencies, such as cities and to Boys and Girls Clubs, Phillips said. The Utah Highway Patrol said the USU van was traveling between 95 mph and 100 mph per hour when the rear left tire blew.
But an investigator for MRA Forensic Sciences, which analyzed the accident for the Utah Division of Risk Management, said the physical evidence and an eyewitness report ruled out the higher speed.
MRA's investigator John L. Steele concluded that the van might have been traveling about 85 mph.
"The driver of the van could well have been a victim of circumstances," Steele wrote.
Attorney Brad Bearnson of Logan this month filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the two injured students and families of the eight who died. It names DaimlerChrysler Corp. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. as defendants, saying the van had a dangerously high center of gravity and unsafe seat belts, and that the tire was faulty. The driver's family has not joined the suit.
USU was not sued - in part because governmental immunity laws cap the money a state agency can be required to pay. The state paid out more than $1 million, an amount the families divided.
Moreover, Bearnson said, the families did not want to sue the driver's estate or university.
"They all had pretty soft feelings toward this driver," Bearnson said. "All these kids loved him. He was a great guy and a responsible driver."
kmoulton@sltrib.com
