By David Fleet
Editor
The width of a razor blade.
That’s the thickness of a crack a Michigan State Police Traffic Division Inspector found in the body of a Brandon School bus following a week-long review last June.
Rick Jerrell, head mechanic for the district’s 36 school buses, said in addition to the small fissure, low air pressure in one tire was the only other blemish found by inspectors. The two infractions, which prompted ‘red-tags,? were part of the state police annual school bus inspection required for all schools statewide.
‘We work very closely with the Michigan State Police during these inspections,? said Jerrell. ‘They are very stringent when it comes to going over the buses’and they should be, it’s for the children that ride these each day.?
Michigan State Police Sgt. Sharron VanCampen reported that 85 percent of the buses inspected statewide passed in 2006-2007, but for 2008-2009 it is down to a 73.8 percent pass rate. Yellow tags went from 4 percent to 8.8 percent during the same time.
VanCampen speculated that since not as many new buses have been purchased and more transportation staff is being cut, this impact of economics is taking its toll.
A red-tagged bus is immediately placed out-of-service and cannot be used to transport students until the defect is repaired. Vehicles identified with less serious safety defects receive a yellow-tag that requires the defects to be repaired within 60 days.
According the report, Brandon received two red-tags on their buses and no yellow tags, while the Goodrich School District received five red-tags with no yellow tags.
Goodrich School buses received five-red tags out of 32 buses with one yellow tag in 2007, while Brandon School buses received no red tags and two yellow tags in 2007.