School Bus Rankings Released From Highway Patrol

Summer is here and school is out, but the Missouri State Highway Patrol is inspecting school buses ahead of the 2021-22 school year ahead.

The Patrol’s rating just over 10-thousand 800 buses around Missouri as ‘approved.’

But another 822 fell into the category of ‘defective,’ which means repairs are required within 10 days.

School of the Osage presented 34 school buses for inspection and all of them were approved by the Patrol.

Eldon R-1 had all of its 30 buses approved.

Camdenton R-3 presented 78 school buses, with 98.7-percent approved and just over 1-percent ‘defective.’

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EMPHASIS: MSHP Completes 2021 Annual School Bus Inspections

Colonel Eric T. Olson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, announces the results of the Driver and Vehicle Safety Division’s 2021 annual school bus inspection program.

Missouri’s 2021 school bus inspection results are as follows:

School buses rated as “approved” upon initial inspection — 10,807
School buses rated as “defective” upon initial inspection — 822
School buses rated as “out-of-service” upon initial inspection — 264

Those buses found defective require repair within 10 days. Buses placed out-of-service require correction of the component(s) prior to further usage.

A total of 277 Missouri school districts earned the Patrol’s Total Fleet Excellence award in 2021. During the 2021-2022 school year, 5,738 buses in these award-winning fleets are eligible to display the Patrol’s Total Fleet Excellence sticker in the lower corner of the first window on the passenger entry side of the bus.

“Through the unified effort of Missouri State Highway Patrol personnel and pupil transportation professionals across the state, a successful inspection of 11,893 school buses occurred in accordance with state statutes,” said Colonel Olson. “The Patrol, school districts, and private pupil transportation companies share a common goal of keeping our schoolchildren safe while they travel on school buses.”

Missouri school bus inspection results are a matter of public record. Individual school district results for 2021 are available at https://apps.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/DVSD/MVI/documents/2021AnnualSchoolBusInspectionResultsCorrected.pdf.

School bus inspection criteria, including Missouri State Highway Patrol out-of-service criteria are available at
https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/DVSD/MVI/documents/schoolBusRegulations.pdf.

Too many people die in traffic crashes each year in Missouri. The choices you make when you’re behind the wheel matter. Make good choices, so you’ll never have to say, “If I could just go back …”

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