newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s report card for the state’s school buses is in, and about half are not getting passing grades.

About 47 percent of New Jersey’s 24,000 school buses fail their first inspections and have to be taken off the road. Another 12 percent received notices for items that have to be repaired within 30 days.

“We don’t want the public to be alarmed by the initial failure rate,” said Elyse Coffey of the Motor Vehicle commission, according to The Press of Atlantic City. “Buses often fail for very small things.”

21 percent of violations were for braking problems.

According to an Associated Press report on philly.com, a school bus has to have 180 items functioning properly to remain in operation. And school districts have to inspect their buses every 3,000 miles and keep records for the Motor Vehicle Commission.

Mike Horan of the NJMVC told CBS Philly that school buses have been taken out of service for things as simple as rips in seats, one light being out, or a bandage being missing from a safety kit. He said in 91 percent of the cases the problem is corrected immediately, and the bus is back on the road.

Egg Harbor Township has one of the largest fleets of buses in South Jersey with 145, but has cut its rate of failures from 73 percent in 2010 to 35.

School bus inspections are done twice a year. Motor Vehicle Commission inspection results can be found here.