Inspections strive to keep young riders safe

2 of JC district's 69 buses taken out of service

Most school buses that transport Cole County public school students are in good shape, according to figures from the Missouri Highway Patrol.

During its annual program, the patrol inspected nearly 12,000 buses in the state. Of that number, 88 percent were found to be safe - the same approval percentage for buses in Jefferson City's public schools.

In the local district, 69 buses were inspected and 61 were approved. Six buses were found to have defects and two were taken out of service.

A defect would include a light out on the bus.

Buses rated as defective may continue to be operated for the transportation of students until repair is made. School districts are allowed 10 days following the initial inspection to repair defects before being reinspected.

An out-of-service rating is given for serious problems, such as the stop sign arm not functioning. Buses placed out-of-service must be repaired, then reinspected and placed back into service by inspection personnel prior to being used for the transportation of students.

As far as the other districts in Cole County, Blair Oaks R-2 had 16 out of 19 buses pass inspection. Two were found to have defections and one taken out of service.

Cole County R-5 in Eugene had 11 out of 12 buses pass inspection. The bus that didn't pass only had a defect.

All 12 buses at Cole R-1 in Russellville passed inspection.