Most school buses inspected in New Hampshire passed the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles Pupil Transportation Department’s school bus inspection, according to its 2011 report. A total of 2,978 school buses were inspected under the program and 2,569 passed, resulting in an 86-percent passing rate.
The inspection program is broken down into four divisions based on fleet size:
- Division I (fleets of 50 or more buses) had 1,681 buses and 1,454 passed, an 87-percent passing rate.
- Division II (25- to 49-bus fleets) had 851 buses and 743 passed, also an 87-percent passing rate.
- Division III (10- to 24-bus fleets) had 279 buses and 227 passed, an 81-percent passing rate.
- Division IV (1- to 9-bus fleets) has 167 buses and 145 passed, an 87-percent passing rate.
Out of all the divisions, Division IV had the most fleets that had a 100 percent passing rate — 29 out of 43 fleets. Under Division III, three of the 18 fleets inspected received a 100 percent passing rate. And of the 23 fleets in Division II, only one fleet got a 100 percent passing rate. There was no breakdown for Division I.
During the inspection process, the top five pieces of defective equipment found were brakes, clearance lamps, the emergency door handle, the black arrow on the emergency door and the buzzer on the emergency door/window.
Additionally, the report documented school bus crashes in the state. According to the report, there were 122 crashes involving school buses from July 1, 2010 to June 30. Of these crashes there were 22 injuries. The number of crashes and injuries is a decrease from the previous year when there were 158 crashes involving school buses and 33 injuries.
