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 every school vehicle used to transport students is inspected.

According to the patrol, 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. Buses and other vehicles throughout the state are also inspected for compliance with safety regulations. 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 assure that we are taking the proper steps to keep our children safe.”

Thousands of school vehicles’ equipment and mechanical conditions will be checked as troopers visit each school district. For any bus or school vehicle passing inspection from June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017, a green 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 2015, the KHP inspected 11,264 buses and other school vehicles for defects. Since 2010, the Kansas Highway Patrol has inspected 63,299 school buses.