10 years later, van crash effects still felt
Ten years ago Saturday, eight students and an instructor from Utah State University were killed in a van crash near Tremonton.
They were coming back from a field trip in the afternoon, traveling in a 15-passenger van. When a tire blew, the vehicle rolled off the interstate, ejecting everyone from the van.
Six of the passengers, five students and the instructor, were dead when paramedics showed up. The rest were taken to various hospitals where three more students passed away. Only two survived, one of which suffers from severe brain damage.
President Stan Albrecht was in his first year as university president when he received a call from his chief-of-staff alerting him of the accident.
“It was extremely difficult because we didn’t know who was in the van,” Albrecht said. “It was an extremely long, trying, difficult evening for all of us.”
Highway Patrol called in a list of names a few at a time and the university tried to comfort as they could, Albrecht attending as many of the funerals as possible.
Though it was such a difficult time, Albrecht said it united the university.
“In the long history of this university there have been many difficult and challenging times,” Albrecht said. “On the one hand that had to be one of the most trying; on the other hand it also brought the campus community together in an amazing way.”
To this day, the van crash has had a significant impact. Immediately after the accident, the university pulled its fleet of 50 15-passenger vans. State law and policy on the use of 15-passenger vans changed for universities across the state.
University of Utah named this accident directly as a reason for its change.
According to the U’s facilities page, “Since 2001, the University has had special rules for the safe use of passenger vans. A tragic accident involving faculty and students of Utah State University, along with changes in similar rules applied by the State of Utah Department of Administrative Services, prompted a reevaluation of the University’s rules.”
Utah State University Student Association’s College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences senator Calee Lott has noticed the impact on field trips in her own program.
“It kind of shaped a lot of what we go on,” Lott said. “I know field trips and stuff that we go on in classes they are a lot more restrictive on what we can do, and it’s important to remember there’s a reason that they’re like that.”
USU started the annual Tractor Parade in memorial , each tractor representing an individual. A paneled memorial was also constructed. It is now housed in front of the Agriculture Sciences building.
“I would hope that our students will take time to walk by the memorial over by the Ag building and to read the names of fellow students and to learn something of their background,” Albrecht said. “This is something we should never forget.”
The tractor parade will be held Friday at 10:15 a.m. on Aggie Bull-evard.
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