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 1. The best and safest option of all is to get a small bus that will meet all federal bus safety standards in lieu of a 15-passenger van. A number of manufacturers offer these vans such as the one pictured here.
These vans are currently available from a number of manufacturers and have a cost from the mid-$40K. Cost depends on size and options selected.
2. The next best option is to add dual wheels to an existing 15-passenger such as pictured below.
 With this option tire redundancy is added so the risk of loss of control if a rear tire fails is reduced. It also reduces the load per rear tire by half.
 An additional advantage of this option is the added weight of the two additional tires. The wheels and related parts lower the center of gravity of the vehicle by approximately ¾” … This may not sound like a lot but considering the lower center of gravity and the increase in the track width of the rear tires, the risk of rollover, as determined by NHTSA’s new car assessment risk model, is reduced by about 10 percentage points … With this change, it’s estimated that the nominal baseline risk of rollover is lowered from approximately 30% to approximately 20%.
This modification is available at a number of service garages around the country. Cost of this conversion, including seven new tires (6 in service & 1 spare) is in the $3,000 to $4,000 range.
3. If it is not possible to replace your 15-passenger van with a small bus … or if funds are not available to convert your 15-passenger van to dual rear wheels … at a minimum, diligently follow the safety guidelines as issued by American Center for Van and Tire Safety … Just following these guidelines will reduce the number of single vehicle rollover accidents and thus reduce the number of related fatalities. Had these guidelines been in place, the accident that caused Alexis James to lose her life might never have happened.
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