JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri State Highway Patrol has released the numbers for the 2018 annual school bus inspections, and 90 percent were approved by inspection personnel.
Each year, the Motor Vehicle Inspection Division looks for issues or defects, ranking the status of the bus based on the issues found. Buses found to have no defective items are rated as “approved.” Buses having one or more defective items which do not constitute an immediate danger are rated as “defective”, while those with a defective item which constitutes an immediate danger are rated as “out-of-service.”
A total of 12,018 buses were inspected this year, with 10,888 approved, 912 rated as defective, and 218 received an “out-of-service” rating.
A total of 281 Missouri school districts earned the Patrol’s Total Fleet Excellence Award, obtaining an approval rating of 90% or higher with no buses placed out-of-service. During the 2018-2019 school year, 6,532 buses in these award-winning fleets are eligible to display the Total Fleet Excellence sticker in the lower corner of the first window on the passenger-entry side of the bus.
“The annual school bus inspection program is one way the Missouri State Highway Patrol serves and protects our children. This program is a success because the Highway Patrol, Missouri’s schools, and private pupil transportation companies make transporting students safely a priority,” Colonel Sandra Karsten, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said. “I appreciate the positive and professional working relationship our agency shares with these professionals.”
You can view the individual results from each school district here: http://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/MVI/index.html
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
