Another sign that the new school year is just around the corner, the Kansas Highway Patrol is beginning the process of school vehicle inspections. Each year ever school vehicle used to transport students is inspected.

According to the agency, this month and next, as teachers are prepping their classrooms, and students are looking forward to seeing their friends again, the Kansas Highway Patrol will be working to ensure these students are kept safe on their travels to and from school. Every July and August, KHP troopers, in conjunction with school districts across the state, check all school buses to ensure they are all in good working order.

Troopers will check the buses from the middle of July until the beginning of the school session to make sure the vehicles will load, transport, and unload students safely. A few of the things troopers will be checking are the lights, emergency exits, tires, windshield wipers, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and emergency spill kits.

“Our children are our future. We owe it to the family members, and their children alike, to make sure these kids arrive to and from their destinations safely,” said Lieutenant Adam Winters, KHP public information officer. “By partnering with these school districts across Kansas, we can ensure that we are taking the proper steps to keep Kansas children safe.”

For any bus or school vehicle passing inspection from June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018, an orange sticker will be displayed in the lower driver’s side corner of the windshield. Vehicles that do not comply with safety regulations cannot be used to transport students until all defects are corrected and a trooper rechecks the vehicle.

In 2016, the KHP inspected 10,752 buses and other school vehicles for defects. Since 2010, the Kansas Highway Patrol has inspected 74,051 school buses.