Avoiding skid, roll

Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005 | 7:25 a.m.

A loud squeal echoed through the crisp morning air at the Community College of Southern Nevada's Cheyenne campus Wednesday morning as a bright white, 15-passenger van skidded and spun full circle in the parking lot.

"That was a big mistake," Paul Pate, associate dean of applied technology, said as he watched the van jerk to a stop. "But at the end of the day he'll be able to drive this course with no problems."

The van, equipped with a special skid system that looks like training wheels, allows drivers to learn how to handle the oversized vehicles properly and teaches them how to avoid skids, rollovers and other serious problems. Purchased two weeks ago, the van is part of the college's driver safety training program that also offers classes in a similarly equipped sedan.

"The skid cars put the drivers into an environment where they can fail," Pate said. "It allows them to learn what they do wrong behind the wheel."

Pate believes the driver safety training will help reduce the number of collisions and particularly fatalities on the road, particularly the often-deadly crashes involving 15-passenger vans.

Nevada was the only state in the West to see an increase in traffic fatalities between 2003 and 2004, according to the most recent national report. Statewide fatalities increased 7 percent, from 368 to 395.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has repeatedly issued consumer warnings because of the high number of rollovers and single-vehicle crashes involving the vans, but Pate said the problem isn't so much the vehicles but the lack of training for people behind the wheel. Often the vans are used by day-care personnel or church groups, and the drivers believe they can handle the vehicle like any other car.

The vans, particularly when carrying 10 people or more, have a higher center of gravity and can roll easily, according to the warnings. Eight Utah State University students and their instructor died in September when the van they were riding in rolled over on Interstate 84 in Utah.

Sweden, where the skid cars are manufactured, mandates that new drivers go through the training, Dane Pitarresi, owner of Skidcar Systems, said. Since that law went into effect 14 years ago, traffic fatalities have decreased 60 percent.

"Could you imagine reducing our fatality rates by 60 percent?" Pate said.

Clark County, which already requires all employees who operate county vehicles to complete a defensive-driving class, is looking at having all of its employees complete the skid-van training as well, said Michael Murphy, coroner and Juvenile Justice Department interim director.

Juvenile Justice employees started taking the class Tuesday, and anyone who transports children or who handles a multipassenger vehicle will be going through the class over the next month, he said.

"This is absolutely a great program for us," Murphy said. "It goes hand in hand with our policy to do whatever we can to ensure the safety of the kids we transfer."

Both skid trainings are open to the public. The $189, four-hour class includes one hour of classroom instruction and three hours in the car or van. The classes are capped at three people at a time so each person receives one-on-one instruction.

"It has the potential to save lives," Pate said. "That's what is important."

Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at clittle@ lasvegassun.com.