School and Church Van Associated Deaths on Road

I've noticed a trend over the past 40 years.  It seems that every month you hear that a school or church passenger van has rolled over and killed innocent students.  It has been a mystery until now.  This blog is created to expose solutions to common problems.  Because of the repetition of this horrific outcome, it has become a common problem.  Again, this blog is being set up so that lives won't be wasted because somebody didn't realize that a simple preventative measure could have stopped the inevitable from happening.  With today's technology, this blog seems to be the best way to get the message out. 

1. The Problem: the church vans seem to rollover because a tire blows out.
2. Let's use an example of a 15 passenger van sitting in a parking lot for 3 or 4 weeks unused.  Over extended time periods. air pressure in the tires dissipates from parasitic leaks.  Usually, either from a poor seal on the bead, a leaky valve stem, or a nail causing a slow leak. 
3. When the time comes for this van to be put in use, the organization sets up the time and the date for the van to be used.  Because the driver is a good driver, he or she is elected drive the van.  The person driving is not usually automotive savvy.  They may walk around the van before getting in to give a visual check to see if the tires look okay.  When carrying 15 passengers, depending on the number of plys in the tire, the tire pressure is critical.  It can be from 32 to 75 lbs. 
4. Let's use 50 lbs as an example.  If the proper tire pressure for a 15 passenger van with a particular tire of 6 plys is 50 lbs, and as the car sits statically in the parking lot, it may look visually okay although there could only be 20 lbs of air in the tire. 
5. Now the driver gets in, he welcomes his passengers aboard, and they drive away.  Everything is fine for about a half an hour.  The driver notices that the vehicle has some degree of instability, but he thinks it is the road.  The right rear tire has 20 lbs in it.  If you look at it with 15 people on board, it is going to look half flat.  Because he is driving, he cannot see it and neither can anybody else.  In the mean time, at highway speeds, the side wall of the tire is getting so hot, the rubber melts and the tire bursts.  The van rolls over and the news media calls it "a tragic accident because of a blow-out."  A blow-out by definition is a unpredicted sudden failure.  In this case, the accident is neither unpredicable nor sudden.  It is predictable because it left the parking lot with low pressure with impending doom.  It was not a blow-out because it was predictable. 
6. All it would take to save the lives is a two dollar tire pressure gauge and the tire pressure written on the tire above the wheel well.  There are decals for this purpose.  Please, if you know somebody in school system or church that is responsible for their van, save a life and show them this post.