Away games are a natural part of an athletic season. Other than the occasional case of bus legs and hostile fans, the risks to athletes traveling to events off campus have traditionally been limited. The reduced leg room provided by a van was, for a long time, the most serious problem faced by a Tiger en route to a distant contest.
Recently, however, there have been several incidents at other schools involving teams riding in vans. In one instance, four men's track athletes from Prairie View A&M were killed when the team's van overturned Feb. 12. In order to prevent such incidents here, Princeton has set up an oversight system to ensure the safety of anyone traveling on behalf of the University.
"Given the recent accidents at other universities, we have been and continue to be in the midst of an in-depth study of our policies and procedures to see if we can make any improvements," Athletic Department fleet representative Jim McLaughlin said in a recent e-mail.
Currently, a branch of the University Committee on Insurance called the Fleet Safety Committee is responsible for all matters regarding team transportation. The committee meets on a regular basis to examine the conditions under which Princeton teams travel. The subcommittee also oversees the progress of the vehicle accident prevention plan.
"Our plan is that we hope that nobody has any accidents," Fleet Safety Committee chairman Chuck Nouvel said.
Fleet representatives from the committee work with various University departments to ensure the safety of all those traveling.
"We hope that [the representatives] instill in their drivers a sense of safety while in the vans," Nouvel said.
This committee has drawn up a specific list of qualifications that potential drivers must meet before they can be allowed to drive for a team. According to the list of qualifications provided by McLaughlin, all drivers must have driven at least 2000 miles in the past year and attend a two-hour classroom-training course, including a lecture on the differences between driving a van and driving a car, and a film presentation. In addition, if requested by the Fleet Safety Committee, the driver must obtain an abstract of his or her driving record from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Only students applying to drive teams must undergo behind-the-wheel training. Any student driver must also pass an in-car certification test.
Cheese wagon
Some Princeton teams, however, try to avoid the use of vans altogether.
"We ride by bus if both the men's and women's teams compete together," men's squash head coach Bob Callahan said in an e-mail. "The larger size of the two teams traveling together justifies the bus. As you can guess, we try to arrange as many matches as possible with the women's team so we can use a bus," he added.
"[The teams] have a lot of people to transport. Vans might be more cost effective in some situations," Nouvel said.
Other teams, such as wrestling, have other criteria for whether to use a van or a bus.
"Usually we used a van," said freshman wrestler Greg Parker. "When we took a bus it was usually for the longer trips."
If a team does have to use a van, most coaches accept the responsibility of driving the team.
Safety first
"I always drive all the time," Callahan said. "It is not fair to put the safety of the entire team and coaching staff in the hands of a driver with three or four years experience versus an old guy like me with 25 years experience."
"One of the coaches always drove," Parker said.
Even if the team is large enough to require a bus for transportation, there are no guarantees of safety. The women's basketball team learned that lesson in February, as it was involved in an accident while riding to a game against Ivy League opponent Dartmouth. While no one was injured, the front of the bus was severely damaged and the team's arrival was delayed several hours.
Clearly, at a school with as many varsity and club teams as Princeton, the safety of those teams when travelling is an important issue.
"Safety in team travel is an issue that is stressed with coaches," McLaughlin said. "Coaches are always instructed to side with caution and to use their best judgement when traveling at night or during inclement weather."
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