We at Kids Encounter have buses. BIG buses. And the reason is simple, SAFETY.

It would be less expensive and easier for us to own and maintain smaller vehicles. But that would come at the cost of safety to your children.

A risk that we are unwilling to take. 

Passenger vans and small buses are inherently dangerous. So dangerous that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the NHTSA, issued a rare "consumer advisory" in 2001 warning of the rollover risk of 15-passenger vans (small buses are vans with a different body on it).

The advisory concludes that a 15-passenger van with more than 15 occupants has a rollover risk nearly SEVEN TIMES GREATER than a lightly loaded van (fewer than 5 occupants) in a single vehicle accident. The NHTSA reissued this safety advisory in April 2002, in part because of "several tragic rollover crashes involving groups on trips" during the summer of 2001.

To drive a BIG bus the driver must have special training and pass a rigorous written and skills test as well as a medical exam to receive the adequate Commercial liscense with an endorsement for carrying passengers.

NO special liscense is required to drive a van or small bus. Too often the keys to those vehicles are handed to anyone because anyone is allowed to drive it. We at Kids Encounter do not think this is a good idea.

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